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Kerala News Archive: May 2005
Ben JohnsonTuesday, May 31, 2005 | AYKalabhavan Mani being a talented actor, with stylist director Anil Menon, has once again courted celluloid success. 'Ben Johnson’ has clicked, both among the youngsters as well as the aged. It has all the ingredients that go into a typical blockbuster: romance, entertainment, comedy and what not!. Amarakaran Pathrose (Kalabhavan Mani) is a name that scares the villagers when he gets into action. His son, Johnson (again Kalabhavan Mani) is everything that the fear-inspiring father is not. He goes out of the way to be nice to one and all. Being very good in atheletics he gets to fulfill his dream of being a police officer through sports quota. Being posted in his own Muthangakuzhi village, his mission is to rid the village of rowdies and baddies, both social as well as political. Mani leads the pack with a powerful performance as Ben Johnson. The man is coolly efficient in action scenes and song sequences as well. Another highlight of the film is its music especially the "sona Sona" sung by mani himself. All in all its a clean entertainer. Ben JohnsonTuesday, May 31, 2005 | AYKalabhavan Mani’s Ben Johnson is a winner at the box-office. The film has taken a decent 72 percent opening in its first week at the Mymoon theatre in Ernakulam, which is very good for a Mani film. The youth in Kerala love the punchline dialogues and action scenes in the film. The adi poli gaana number Sona..Sona… sung by Mani himself set to tune by Deepak Dev is a major highlight. National Informatics centre ready with MATRIXTuesday, May 31, 2005 | AYMATRIX (Management of Admission Tabulation based on Result Index) software which would be listing the guidelines and procedures that are to be followed by higher secondary schools while making Plus-I admissions is at its final touches by the NIC. The software has been prepared by the NIC following general guidelines given by the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) and specific guidelines given by the Directorate of Higher Secondary Education. In case of a tie between students at any stage of admission, the subject weightage, marks in English and the institution where the student completed the SSLC are a few among the criteria that would be taken into account. Justification for the ban of lotteriesTuesday, May 31, 2005 | AYThe state government justified in the Kerala high court that the main reason for banning online and internet lottery is that it thinks that the latter are misguiding people by misusing the advancement of information technology. It banned the online lotteries by submitting that the disadvantages of it includeds suicide, divorce, starvation and even murder. Justice K Balakrishnan Nair adjourned the hearing to July four. John Abraham awards declaredTuesday, May 31, 2005 | AY'Hawa Mahal' directed by Vipin Vijay and 'Ladies Special' by Nidhi Tuli shared the John Abraham national award for best documentary in the 'Signs 2005,' festival of documentaries and short features in video, organised by the Federation of Film Societies of India here. The awards were distributed by Kerala State Chalachitra Akademi chairman T K Rajeev Kumar at the closing function of the festival. Noted filmmaker Lenin Rajendran gave away the John Abraham award for best Malayalam feature film to Blessy, director of t he award-winning work, 'Kaazhcha' at the function. BCCI meeting in keralaTuesday, May 31, 2005 | AYAfter the BCCI meeting in 1981, almost 24 years later, another working commitee meeting will be held on june 1 and 2 at Taj Green Cove Resort, Kovalam. The main agenda behind this meeting will be ratifying selection of Greg Chappell as Indian team coach, give a stamp of approval for the Indian team's tour programme for the next nine months, contentious Television rights issue, finalise the proposal for holding the ICC Champions Trophy in India next year. Kerala champions in softball championshipTuesday, May 31, 2005 | AYKerala staged a magnificent rally to emerge new champions with a well-earned 10-8 verdict in the boys final in the 18th Sub-Junior National Softball Championship which concluded at the Government College for Men, Sector 11. The Kerala boys remained consistent throughout the match despite Madhya Pradesh launching their onslaught in the first innings. Varun and Sabari put Kerala on path to victory by scoring three home runs each. Jithin (2), Abin and Fasal (1 each) gave the finishing touches to their well-merited victory. They dont even leave the coconut oilTuesday, May 31, 2005 | AYIt has been found that coconut oil market in kerela is being targetted by adulterated material. Palm kernel oil and paraffin solution were being imported in huge quantities and used to adulterate coconut oil. When samples from suspected oil merchents were collected and tested at the laboratory it was found that, all failed to conform to the prevention of food adulteration standards. In most of them they failed on both the saponification value and the butyro refractometer reading. They also had an iodine value very much above the maximum level fixed. Maintenance hanger to come up in CIALMonday, May 30, 2005 | AYA maintenance hangar, third in the country after New Delhi and Mumbai, will be constructed at the Cochin international airport, with a total outlay of Rs 100 crore. Skilled employees from Kerala, working in such hangars in Singapore and Dubai, would be brought in to work and enrolled as share-holders of the CIAL(Cochin International Airport Ltd). An aircraft is grounded for thorough inspection and maintainance after flying 4,800 hours. Alert in Nedumbassery airportMonday, May 30, 2005 | AYA red alert has been sounded in and around the Cochin international airport near here till June 7, following intelligence reports of a possible LTTE threat. As part of the alert, which came into force today, only passengers would be allowed in, that too after strict security check-up and clearance. Threatening calls for KecheriMonday, May 30, 2005 | AYKerala Sahitya Akademi president Yousufali Kecheri has lodged a complaint with Chief Minister Oommen Chandy following threats to his life after the publication of an article by him seeking trial for Abdul Nasar Madani. The article was published in a leading Malayalam daily on May 21. Soon after, he started receiving threats from a person. Kecheri also says that he does not suspect any political motive behind this, he doubts somebody with a personnel grudge is doing this act. Kerala retained girls team titleMonday, May 30, 2005 | AYIn the second Reva national youth athletics championships, Kerala’s C.T. Raji, bagged a total of four golds. She emerged on top in the 100m sprint and 100m hurdles on the first two days; and on Sunday she lead the pack in the 200m and also played a key role in the Kerala girls coming first in the 4x100m relay. Kerala (76 points) retained the girls’ team title, followed by Karnataka (69.5) and Tamil Nadu (67). Controversy rises after HIV developmentsMonday, May 30, 2005 | AYA controversy has come up with the announcing by NACO(National Aids Country Body) that numbers of new AIDS affected patients have come down from 520,000 in 2003 to 28,000 in 2004. Many health workers believe that the numbers given by NACO head S Y Quraishi are drastically wrong and that if looked at the matter deeply ,things are much different and more new cases are coming up daily. Some of them say that there is no reduction, and the figures are becoming higher and higher and the stigma and discrimination is still there. Purushothaman Mulloli of the Joint Action Council Kannur, an umbrella group of NGOs in the state said the NGOs who are talking about epidemics have no idea about epidemiology, and are merely sponsored agencies of pharmaceutical lobbies who are promoting the market. There are a number of patients who dont report their disease due to stigma or even know of it due to lack of awareness, and many preferred to go to private hospitals, which were not included in the HIV count. Another guiness entryMonday, May 30, 2005 | AYKerala is getting the honour of entering the Guiness World Book of records in percussion instruments through young mridangam artist Kuzhalmannam G Ramakrishnan who played the the mridangam non-stop for over 84 hours. He beats Suresh Joachin Arulantham of Australia who holds the existing 84-hour record set with drums at Zurich, Switzerland. The event was being held as per the guidelines issued by the Guinness and the Limca Book of World Records authorities. Ramakrishnan, who runs a carnatic music school has worked with renowned muscians like K J Yesudas, V Dakshinamoorthy, N Ramani, Kadri Gopal Nath and N Rajam in the past. Hats off to VinayanSunday, May 29, 2005 | AYFilm maker Vinayan has succeeded in selling his film, 'Athbhutha Dweep' remake rights to Hollywood film makers. Ron Howard, who had directed films like 'A Beautiful Mind' and 'Apollo 13', is going to direct the English version. All the dwarfes who had acted in the Malayalam film will star in the English version too. Leonardo di Caprio will pay the lead role and a Hollywood heroine is likely to play the female lead. Chandy responds strongly to all allegationsSunday, May 29, 2005 | AYChief Minister Oomen Chandy in response to VS Achuthanandan’s allegations against the mega Smart City project wrote an open 5 paged letter to him stating that proposed project in association with the Dubai Internet City (DIC) had reached only an MoU stage and raising allegations of corruption at this stage was with ulterior motives. Chandy said that the government was providing 100 acres of free land to DIC as per the IT policy and the land was barren with no infrastructure available at present. He said that other states like Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka were willing to offer much more concessions to DIC for setting up the project there. He also added that government wont budge if the Opposition was trying to hamper the development process in the State by raking up controversies and raising baseless allegations. Another medical college on the waySunday, May 29, 2005 | AYOne more medical college will be soon added to the list of medical colleges in Kerala. The MCI team expressed their content over the facilities provided by the SUT Medical College at Vattappara near Trivandrum. At present there are 14 medical colleges in the state. Of them, six are in the government sector and eight in the private sector. All colleges except the Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Centre, Kochi, which has been given the status of a deemed university, admit students to the merit quota seats from the entrance ranklist prepared by the Commissioner for Entrance Examinations. Maruthi in a new style hit the roadsSunday, May 29, 2005 | AYMaruti's latest stylish brand "Swift" was today launched in Kerala. The new compact brand, which was a huge success in Japan with the sale of 30,000 units in six months, would be priced at Rs 3.86 lakh for its base model in Kerala. Company already had 67 market shares and during the last quarter, top four market leaders were Maruti brands. Meeting with foreign delegatesSunday, May 29, 2005 | AYInternational IT conference atteneded by delegates from Venezuela, Brazil,Italy were held at Thiruvanthpuram. Meeting was all about adopting free software, as against proprietary software, as the tool for e-governance. They cited that hamstrung uses proprietary software which was evident during the oil crisis in Brazil. Kerala hosts naval academySunday, May 29, 2005 | AYAsia's premier Naval Training Establishment "INS Zamorin" is starting its first course in Kerala in the month of August. The training base spread across 2,800 acres built at a cost of Rs 500 crore in Cannanore district, would be fully operational in two to three years. The new academy is proud to be built with the most modern technology and state of art infrastructure. Seperate bench for tax mattersSunday, May 29, 2005 | AYIn order to speed up the disposal of the cases realted to revenue Kerala High Court has decided to set up a seperate bench for hearing tax matters. The greatest problem affecting revenue recovery is the pending of cases in various courts. Government pleaders have been asked to file counter-affidavits within two months’ time. The pleaders would be deputed for chamber duty on rotation basis. There would be greater co-ordination between the District Collectors and the pleaders for speeding up the cases. TsunamiSaturday, May 28, 2005 | AYAppachan who is a very well known producer, credited with the production of first cinemascope film "Padayottam' and the first 3-D film in India "My dear Kuttichathan" is directing a movie based on Tsunami victims. The film named "Tsunami" will be a film for the children and will tell the story of the kids who escape from the tsunami and find themselves in a new world. The film will be made in four languages - Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Hindi and is expected to be completed in a year. Swarnamalaya's new filmSaturday, May 28, 2005 | AYK S Gopalakrishnan who is known as the director of soft porn is making a new movie which according to reports are ‘vegetarian’ is casting Swarnamalya as the heroine. The film is about fan clubs and Swarnamalya plays an actress. Critics awardsSaturday, May 28, 2005 | AYThe Kerala Film Critics’ Association has played a major role in encouraging up-coming artistes in the State. Dileep received the award for best actor for the film, "Kathavasheshan". Kavya Madhavan won the best actress award for "Perumazhakkalam". Mamukoya received the award for second best actor for his role in "Perumazhakkalam". The directors Kamal and Blessy received the awards for "Perumazhakkalam" and "Kazhcha" respectively. Sequels to Dileeps movie begunSaturday, May 28, 2005 | AYDileep is going to cross the same roads of acting in sequels. Sunil had directed Dileep in the hit film 'Maanathe Kottarathil'. The film turned out to be a major hit at the box office. Now, there are serious plans of making a sequel to the film. Dileep is going to play the lead role in the sequel too. Robin Thirumala and Ansar are producing it. New companies registered in KeralaSaturday, May 28, 2005 | AYSeventysix companies, with an authorised capital of Rs 62 crore, were registered in Kerala during April, 2005. Of these, nine were big size companies while four were public limited companies with an authorised capital of Rs 1.2 crore. The remaining 72 private companies had a total authorised capital of Rs 61.62 crore. Forty six cases were filed during the month for violation of various provisions of the Companies Act and a fine of Rs 1.09 lakh was imposed by courts against companies and directors. Kerala hosting super cup matchSaturday, May 28, 2005 | AYThe ONGC Super Cup 2005 football match between the National Football League champions Dempo Sporting Club and second placed Sporting Clube de Goa would be played at the Kozhikode Corporation Stadium on 28 May. This was for the first time that Kerala will host a Super Cup match. HC issues notice to petroleum companiesSaturday, May 28, 2005 | AYKottayam District Petroleum Dealers Association, had filed a petition stating that as per the rules notified by the Central government in 2003, no petrol pump could be opened within 300 metres distance of an existing outlet, oil companies were still sanctioning retail outlets without following the rules. Kerala High Court today admitted the plea and issued notices to the respondents. Kerala trying to be cent percent computer literateSaturday, May 28, 2005 | AYKerala being a state with 100 percent literacy is now aiming to make at least one member of each family e-literate. 'Akshaya', the ambitious e-literacy programme is being extended to seven more districts, Kasaragod, Kannur, Kozhikode, Thrissur, Ernakulam, Pathanamthitta and Kollam after its successful implementation in Malappuram. Akshaya is also proud to be among the six winners of Prix Ars Electronica Award this year instituted by the Austria-based Ars Electronica, a platform for digital arts and media. They were picked up for awards from 2,975 entries from 71 countries. With the state becoming an IT destination with Dubai Internet City's proposal to set up their `Smart City' in Kochi, IT education scheme will be a hit with the participation of people in the projects using information and communication technologies. KBPS will have a new look soonSaturday, May 28, 2005 | AYDuring the handing-over ceremony of textbooks for the academic year 2005-06, Minister for Printing Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan said that the State Government would take all possible steps to modernise the Kerala Books and Publication Society (KBPS) at Kakkanad. He said that all efforts and the latest technology will be added to give a modern outlook to the press as to challenge the competition of todays world. And that the monetary support for the programme will not be a hinderance. Old coconut palms to be replacedSaturday, May 28, 2005 | AYChief Minister Oommen Chandy has sanctioned a Rs 1,924 crore project to replace diseased coconut palms with new saplings. Union Agriculture Cooperation Secretary Radha Singh said 50-60 per cent of the package would be mobilised as loans from the banks while Central assistance would amount to about Rs 230 crore. A K Antony elected to RajyasabhaSaturday, May 28, 2005 | AYCongress Working Committee member and former Kerala Chief Minister A K Antony was today elected to the Rajya Sabha unopposed with the LDF not fielding a candidate against him. In the 140-member Kerala Assembly, the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) has 94 MLAs. Even in the event of voting, Mr Antony would have easily won. Mr Antony was a member of the Rajya Sabha from 1985 to 1991 and 1991 to 1995 and was Minister for Civil Supplies, Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution in the Narasimha Rao Ministry. The seat fell vacant following the resignation of Mr K Karunakaran, who left the Congress and formed a new party, the National Congress (Indira). Made in USAFriday, May 27, 2005 | AYRajiv Anchal is a director known for his own style, mostly a path of his own. With the new venture of 'Made in USA' also he proves why he not clustered among the others. The movie is completely shot in US, but unlike other directors who would have tempted to shoot the beautiful locales, he sticks to his primary weapon, the story line and in the end comes out successful. Tamil heart throbe, Madhavan plays the lead while the US settled Kaveri dons the female lead. Sreenivasan and Innocent plays their roles to perfection. The one liner is queit simple, but the treatment by Rajiv does all the difference and takes the viewer to another level. Madhavan plays a NRI malayalee who attempts suicide several times while Sreeni plays a doctor who tries to bring him back to life with the support of Kaveri. All in all, a welcome change which may do well for the malayalam cinema. CPM in a spot of botherFriday, May 27, 2005 | AYThe CPM, the leader of the LDF in Kerala is in a spot of bother in the controversy related to the decision not to feild a candidate against their arch rival A.K.Antony in the Rajyasabha elections.In a remarkable turnaround, Mr Antony who had resigned as CM few months ago after a humiliating defeat of UDF from the hands of LDF now goes to the Rajyasabha as a unanimous choice of all the 140 MLAs in the state assembly and there by as the unanimous candidate of the people of Kerala. The decision not to field a candidate against Antony by the LDF is sure to rake up problems in the LDF, expecially since, the Opposition Leader, V. S. Achuthanadan himself was so vociferous against Antony and the UDF. The LDF which cried foul when BJP asked its workers to vote according to coscience in the coming By-Polls cannot even attempt to answer logically when the state BJP president asks whats your right to question us when the LDF could send someone like Antony unoppsed to the Rajyasabha. Its a messy tangle indeed and funny is the politics in the state of Kerala. Kerala to have Elephant head countFriday, May 27, 2005 | AYElephant is an animal which had always found a special place in the minds of malayalees. This time the state is to have an exhaustive survey on the lives and other aspects of this 'Gentleman animal' in the captive in the state. The survey is been funded by 'Compassion Unlimited Plus Action' (CUPA), a voluntary organisation based in Bangalore. The ultimate aim of the survey is to scientifically analyse data and to suggest ways and means to ensure that everyone, including the elephant, benefits. According to unofficial reports Kerala has as many as 900 captive elephants with the Guruvayoor temple alone housing about 62 jumbos. The study will go into all the aspects about the lives of the elephants, their mahouts and the living conditions. State BJP revampedFriday, May 27, 2005 | AYThe 'Chinthan Baitak' concluded yesterday saw many turmoils and political strategies being churned out. The major issues were about the strtegy to be followed up in the coming By-Polls. The BJP who hasnt put up their own candidates in both the constituencies citing the reason that the party doesnt have a winning chance has asked itsa workers to vote according to their concience. The party also implemented some changes in the day to day functioning of the state unit which is facing some unprecedented factionalism. Former Union minister O.Rajagopal has been asked not to interfere with state unit's day to day activities while the General Secratry Ramanpillai lost his post. Another leader, P.Mukundan's working headquarters have been shifted out of tghe state to Chennai on the pretext that he has been given more responsibilities outside the state. Luftansa to touch down in KeralaFriday, May 27, 2005 | AYOne of the top names in aviation industry, The Lufthansa Airways will soon start its operations in Kerala. The state tourism minister, K.C.Venugopal said a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed withe the German major and Central government to operate its flights from airports in Europe to Kerala. He said he had asked the Central ministry to start more flights directly from Europe to Kerala to boost the emerging tourism potential of the state. He said the MoU follows, raising this issue at the Indo-German Ministers Conference held in New Delhi two months back and discussions during the tourism festival held in Berlin by him. Sources say the first flight of Lufthansa will be most probably from Frankfurt to Kochi. Malayalee gets 7th rank in COMED-K entranceFriday, May 27, 2005 | AYResults of the Under-Graduate Entrance Test (UGET) held by private professional colleges in Karnataka for admissions to management quota seats in BE, MBBS, BDS and B.Arch courses have been announced. Niby Verghese from Kayankulam secured seventh rank in the engeneering stream and became the only malayalee to figure in any of the top ten ranks in all the streams. The Comed-K UGET held on May 1 was the only route through which non-Karnataka students could gain admissions in colleges in the State. Each college will have its own seat selection process and allotment based on the merit list. However, as the seat-sharing ratio is yet to be decided and the seat matrix is likely to be issued only in the second week of June, the consortium will be allotting seats only after that. There is also considerable confusion over conflicting orders or opinions of the Supreme Court and High Court. However, colleges will start calling for applications from students by June first week. SSLC results out without any hitchesThursday, May 26, 2005 | AYThe State of Kerala always leads other Indian states in regard to education. Another feather was added to its cap as it became the first state in the country to switch over completly to the 'Grading System' from a conventional 'Mark System' in the Class 10 or Secondary School Leaving Certificate (SSLC) Examination. Education Minister E.T. Mohammed Basheer, who announced the results at a press conference here, said of the 4,72,780 students who appeared for the examinations, 2,76,518 students ( 58.49 percent) scored the minimum marks for eligibility for higher studies. A total of 469 students secured `A plus' grade for all subjects and 10,586 students got `A' grade or above for all subjects. A total of 53,213 students scored `B' grade or above for all subjects. Eighty five schools had cent per cent victory with all their students scoring `D plus' grade or above. The detailed results are available in 'My-Kerala.com, educational forum. Irrigation Dept to build Sea wallsThursday, May 26, 2005 | AYThe state cabinet has decided to allot Rs 4.3 crores the Department of irrigation for construction of 'sea walls' in the coastal areas which are vulnerable for high waves. It must be noted that, the state suffered an unprecedented lashing of high waves last week in the coastal areas of Trivandrum, Kollam, Allapuzha and Ernakulam districts forcing thousands of people to march in to the relief camps. Cheif Minister, Mr. Oommen Chandy said nine districts were affected and all efforts will be done to prevent such mishaps in the future. Kerala SSLC, CBSE 10th results on R WorldWednesday, May 25, 2005 | APAKochi, May. 24 (PTI): The results of the Kerala SSLC 2005 and CBSE 10th results will be available on R World, the Java based suite of data applications of Reliance Indiamobile (RIM) tomorrow. The Kerala State Board has joined hands with Reliance Infocomm to provide results to students taking this examination, a Reliance Infocomm press release said today. Students and their parents can get to see their results on R World's application suite 'Exam Results' instantly on their RIM phones by selecting Get Results and then Kerala SSLC. The students will have to enter their six digit roll number and submit. Besides basic information such as pass/failed, students can also get to see detailed information including full marks card in an easy to understand format. This year Reliance plans to cover almost all board and competitive examinations and would also provide an added facility for customers to see a schedule of the result announcement dates, Mahesh Prasad, President Application and Solutions Group, Reliance Infocomm, said. Those whose RIM phones do not have access to R World can get the examination reuslts by SMS messaging KL 10 followed by space and the six digit Roll number to 1234 or 3926. Another actress entering KannadaWednesday, May 25, 2005 | AYNavya Nair is stepping her foot in the Kannada industry with the remake of the film "Autograph". She is replacing Gopika in the movie. Navya Nair's second film in Tamil, 'Amrutham' awaits the audience's verdict. Schizophrenics in KeralaWednesday, May 25, 2005 | AY"Schizophrenia" which basically is a disease of the brain has been found in almost 3 lakhs people in Kerala and many of the cases can be cured if detected early and if proper treatment is provided. This disesase is mainly caused by overactivity of the chemical dopamin making the person vulnerable to the disease. It will manifest when the patient encounters problems like death of a relative etc. There are different varieties of schizophrenia like Paranoid Schizophrenia, Catatonic Schizophrenia, Simple Schizophrenia, Hebephrenic Schizophrenia, Unspecific Schizophrenia. Treatment to the disease is a combined biological and psychological therapy. Chandy determined to stop Ganja cultivationWednesday, May 25, 2005 | AYIn an attempt to fight against the practise of ganja cultivation, Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy trekked nearly five hours through the thick forests on the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border to reach Kambakallu in trail of ganja plantations. Ganja cultivation has been taking place in the catchment area of Manalalay river flowing through the Kambakallu region on account of the inaccessibility of the area. The Chief Minister also announced that a permanent monitoring station would be setup at Kambakallu to check ganja cultivation and trafficking in the valley. Reduction of labour migration from KeralaWednesday, May 25, 2005 | AYKerala which was once the number one state in the migration of contract workers to gulf is now being placed in the third position overtaken by Tamilnadu and Andhrapradesh. Kerala’s share of all migrants from India came down from 19.7 per cent in 2003 to 13.4 per cent last year. A large number of graduates from Kerala's ever-increasing professional colleges, especially knowledge workers, finding lucrative jobs within the country has been cited as one of the reasons for lack of interest in overseas assignments. The fall in the share of recruiting workers will indirectly affect industrially backward Kerala since it largely depends on the remittances from the Gulf to sustain its economy. Nedumbassery airport plans airline companyWednesday, May 25, 2005 | AYThe board of directors of the Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL), has decided on a new venture to start an airline service of its own as part of its diversification plans. The chief minister of Kerala, who is the chairman of the company, is in favour of the project and had given the go-ahead to CIAL authorities with this new project which will be under a separate company and will start domestic service first. CIAL has also plans to have an aircraft maintenance division of International standards with all the levels of maintenance and service of aircraft. Visa application to USWednesday, May 25, 2005 | AYKerala branch of the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce (IACC-Kerala) will organise an interactive session on ‘US Non-Immigrant Visas’ on May 27 at Hotel Avenue Regent at 4.30 p.m. Visitors to United States which are on an increase in the recent years especially by students who go there for higher education, or for business purposes, all need to be aware of the important changes in the visa application process. Directory for 2005Wednesday, May 25, 2005 | AYA directory which covers the industrial and commercial sectors classifying them according to their nature of business, government departments and other public utility features of Kerala has been released by MP Sebastian Paul in the name of "Access All Kerala Industrial and Commercial Yellow Pages-2005". The book is useful for both the public as well as the businessmen as it carries a section on government with details of central and state ministers, details on public information services, STD-ISD codes. Government plans satellite townshipWednesday, May 25, 2005 | AYThe project of a satellite township in the city of Cochin will soon begin once the government finds out 200 acre undisputed land in areas adjacent to Kochi said the Revenue Minister K.M Mani. This project is aimed at easing the crowding in the city of Cochin. KrithyamTuesday, May 24, 2005 | AY'Krithyam' starring Prithviraj in a dual role, a hired killer and a musician. The film's heroine Pavithra makes her debut in Malayalam. Pavithra is Sandra, a very rich girl who had once met with an accident when she was a child, and the injury to her head leads to so many complications that at one point she was said by the doctors that she might die soon. Now, Sandra is a very lively and imaginative young woman who even writes crime thrillers. Wanting her death to be more interesting she hires a killer through internet to kill her without revelaing her identity. The killer, Christy Lopez (Prithviraj) comes down to Kerala from Mumbai for Santra. In the meantime she falls in love with the musician Prithviraj and the doctors said that her disease is curable, which gets her into trouble because she has to stop Lopez from killing her. ChaandupottuTuesday, May 24, 2005 | AY'Chaandupottu' is the name of the new film that Lal Jose is directing. Dileep plays the lead role in the film. In this film, Lal plays the role of Dileep's father. While Dileep's role is named Thottavadi Radhakrishnan', his father's name is 'Divakaran'. Lal is producing the film too. The film is going to be shot at Goa and Pondicherry. Gopika and Bhavana are the heroines. Indrajit and Biju Menon co-star. Blessy starts his new movieTuesday, May 24, 2005 | AYAfter the hit "Kazcha", Blessy is all set for his new venture. This time he has chosen super star Mohanlal for the lead role. For the past two months, Blessy had been working on the film's script. Century is going to produce the new film. It has to be seen whether he wants to work with only Superstars. Famous jewellery brand expands in southTuesday, May 24, 2005 | AYJewellery brand "D'damas" which is a joint venture between Gemplus Jewellery Ltd, a part of the Gitanjali group, and Damas, the West Asia-based jewellery retail chain, is planning to set up more showrooms of which 12 will be in the south. In the South, Tamil Nadu topped in gold consumption with Kerala and Andhra Pradesh occupying second and third place. The company also sells its brands through jewellers and multi-brand outlets such as Oyzterbay. Safed musli not impressiveTuesday, May 24, 2005 | AYErectile dysfunction which was a common problem faced by the men today had found a remedy two years back with a herbal drug "safed musli". But to the disappointment ,this drug couldnt rise up as expected since it could not compete with its alternative drugs like cialis (Tadalafil) and viagra, which continue to do roaring business. The herb, which used to be cultivated over 10,000 acres across Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Punjab, is now grown on less than 2,000 acres. Cultivators of the herb are increasingly turning to other cash-rich crops like vanilla, sugarcane, gooseberry and rice for better realisations. The companies selling safed musli seeds blames the farmers for their downfall saying that farmers should join hands only with organised players. Commodity fair in juneTuesday, May 24, 2005 | AYThe four-day India International Commodity Fair where stake-holders in coconut, coir, tea, coffee, cashew, spices and rubber industry and trade will participate, would be held here from June 15. Also seven independent conferences - Coconut Asia, Coir Asia, India Coffee Congress, T-World, World Rubber Congress, India Spices Congress and India Cashew Congress will be held with the fair. The event where about 2000 delegates and 1050 companies are expected to participate, is being organised by Mumbai-based Tefla's Conference and Events. the main objective is to examine the challenges of production and marketing as also forecast of demand and supply. VS sparks 'Yoga controversy'Tuesday, May 24, 2005 | AYWhatever he does makes some controversy here or there .This time its in the feild of Yoga. Yogacharya T G Chidambaram's book on ‘Yogabhyasavum yogachikitsayum’,is making many controversies on the issue of an advertisement of the yoga book with the opinions and picture of CPM leader V S Achuthanandan. Chidambaram said that advice given to several persons to maintain their health through yoga had made good results and opinions of personalities practising yoga which were used as the catch word for the advertisment should not be taken very seriously and not to drag a health issue to such controversies. Steps to improve facilities for Sabrimala templeTuesday, May 24, 2005 | AYBoosting the development of the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple, and to improve the facilitates for the millions of pilgrims visiting the famed hill shrine in Kerala, the National Board for Wildlife has decided to hand over 12.765 hectare of forest land in Periyar Tiger Reserve to the Travancore Devaswom Board. State Devaswom Minister K C Venugopal said that decks had been cleared for taking up the Pampa action plan and that a high-level team, headed by the State Chief Secretary, would review the progress of the work on every fortnight. Antony to be RS member and Cabinet MinisterTuesday, May 24, 2005 | AYFormer Cheif Minister and former Union Cabinet Minister Mr.A.K.Antony will be the UDF candidate for the Rajya Sabha election from the state. The seat became vaccant due to the resignation of another former CM, K.Karunakaran after he quit Congress. Antony is currently the MLA from Cherthalai. The announcement of Antony's name for the RS seat was quiet unexpected and dramatic. Sources say, the decision was made by party President Sonia Gandhi herself. The high command rejected the six member panel send by the KPCC and decided to ask Antony to contest. The election of Antony to the RS is a certainity although UDF had lost some of its majority in recent times. By bringing in Antony to Delhi, Sonia had send clear signals that he is still hot favourite with the highcommand. Another factor will be that bringing in somebody of Antony's "Clean Image" and calibre will certainly strengthen the credibility of Manmohan Singh government in the center which is reeling under the bad name brought in by the tainted ministers. It's a certainity now that the Congress in state will soon have a Cabinet minister with a good portfolio to boost. Thommannum Makkallum doing wellMonday, May 23, 2005 | AYMammooty's "Thommannum Makkallum " though having a weak script is a block buster owing to the excellent performance of Mammooty and Lal. As such there are no minus points for the movie. Songs were also foot tapping and all in all a full entertainer. Mammootty is having a dream period for the last two years with most of his movies doing well in the boxoffice. Kochi RajaveMonday, May 23, 2005 | AYDileeps Kochi Rajave which was initially written of as a flop has become a surprise winner. Dileep's presence in the movie has anyway made the film a hit in the box office. Dileep was desperately seeking for a hit after few of his movies fell flat in the box office in the recent past. The PoliceMonday, May 23, 2005 | AYAfter Punaradhivasam, Mullavalliyum Thenmaavum (Malayalam) and Freaky Chakra (Hindi), director VK Prakash has just finished with his fourth project "The Police" which has Prithviraj with brother Indrajit in the lead roles. Both playing egoistic cops with diverse attitudes to life. Bhavana and Chaya Singh play the female leads. Talented Marathi-Hindi actor Sachin Khedekar is make a debut in Malayalam through this movie. Malyalee applauded in USMonday, May 23, 2005 | AYA young Malayali doctor, Dr Joe Varghese, 39 has been given the US government’s ‘Outstanding Scientific Achievement Award’ for his path-breaking researches in the field of geriatrics. Being an assistant professor of neurology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City, he won the award for his studies on the effects of disease and aging on cognition and mobility. Dr Joe is a product of St. John’s Medical College, Bangalore. Smart city needs to outsmart the state oppositionMonday, May 23, 2005 | AYThe much hyped Smart City which will be an international hub for IT, ITEs and biotechnology, is facing many problems and allegations from the states opposition parties. Kerala had managed to bag this project edging out Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Achutanandan says it is steeped in corruption and is a sellout by the present government to DIC, and the entire project will be reviewed when Left expectedly assumes power in Kerala next year. The BJP in Kerala says that this can possibly be a ‘‘security threat’’ as Kochi also hosts the Southern Naval Command. Other parties, including Kerala Congress (Jacob) is also trying to hammer on the project. State government sources insist the project is still under no threat per se. Immunisation -- now a very costly procedureMonday, May 23, 2005 | AYGovernment's idea of implementing value added tax (VAT)at 4%, has put a direct effect on the increase of price of vaccines for diphtheria, pertusis (whooping cough), tetanus, polio, tuberculosis and measles. In Maharashtra, Kerala, Delhi, West Bengal, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, prices of some of these vaccines have already gone up. Earlier, some State Governments had exempted certain vaccines from sales tax but that could have an impact on the immunisation programmes since vaccines administered through Government programmes being free and thus the entire burden will be in the private sector. Kerala girls on the topMonday, May 23, 2005 | AYIn a league match of the 56th junior National basketball championship which was held in Pondicherry yesterday, Kerala girls outshined Jharkhand 58-12. With some fine performances from Reshma and Susan Mary, who scored 19 and 11 points respectively, Kerala led 37-5 at half-time. Chandy's secret mission outMonday, May 23, 2005 | AYChief Minister Oommen Chandy was planning to conduct a raid on a 400-acre area near Idukki where cannabis is allegedly grown illegally. Chandy was to be accompanied by state forest minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan and a select group of media personnel. The lid was blown off the "secret" visit when only a section of the media was invited for the visit. Chandy, however, dismissed reports that he was going to conduct a raid and said it was merely a visit to the place, decision to restrict the media team was because the journey is going to be tough. Legal aid for Malayalees in Saudi prisonsSunday, May 22, 2005 | APAMalayalees waiting for their release in Saudi Arabian prisons will be provided all necessary legal help on an urgent basis. The Chief Minister,Mr. Oommen Chandy stated this in his speech,during a function held recently in Thiruvananthapuram,to hand over the first instalment of the financial assistance to be used for the rehabilitation of patients affected by AIDS,to Bishop Kundukulam Memorial AIDS Centre,Thrissur. This was an initiative undertaken by the World Malayalee Council based in Riyadh. With regards to the legal help facilitating the release of Malayalees in the Saudi prisons,the Chief Minister also said that all required measures would be taken in consultation with the Government of India and also the Embassy of India in Saudi Arabia. MLAs to visit Gulf countriesSunday, May 22, 2005 | APAThe Chief Minister,Mr. Oommen Chandy said that a team of MLAs would be sent to the Gulf to visit Keralites who are jailed in the Gulf and the State would take necessary action for their release based on the report submitted by the team. The team would also visit labour camps. The Chief Minister said this in a discussion with the Indian- ambassador designate to the U.A.E.,,Mr. Chandramohan Bhandari.The Chief Minister requested Mr. Bhandari to speed up the procedures of Union Government and to provide legal assistance to the needy. Mr. Bhandari stressed on the need for strict action against illegal recruitment agents. The State Minister for Industries,Mr. V. K. Ebrahim Kunju and the Principal Secretary,Non- Resident Keralites'Affairs,Mr. Jiji Thomson also participated in the discussion. Largest conclave of NRKs coming up in AugustSunday, May 22, 2005 | APAThe Capital City of Thiruvananthapuram will host the third edition of the 'Samawayam'on the 5th and 6th of August 2005. Following this would be 'Samanwayam'on the 7th of August and the final event 'Samagamam'on the 8th. Of the three,'Samawayam'is the largest gathering of Non-resident Keralites from outside India. The second event to follow 'Samanwayam'will have NRK organizations and individuals based outside Kerala but within India. And the final event 'Samagamam'will witness participation by NRK associations and groups based in Kerala. All three events are unique occasions for sharing the feel of togetherness,to exchange thoughts on common issues,opportunity for serious debates,and also for leisure activities. Organized by the Department of Non-Resident Keralites'Affairs,Government of Kerala,the first two editions of 'Samawayam'were held in Kochi and Germany in the year 2001 and 2003 respectively. The third edition of the event is expected to have an enthusiastic participation by NRK groups and individuals from different parts of the world. If it is 'Smart'it can be 'Fashionable'tooSunday, May 22, 2005 | APAIt seems Kerala is determined to host productive and futuristic enterprises as is evident from recent trends. Till last week,the talk was all about 'Smart City’,an IT driven project to be launched soon by Dubai Internet City (DII) at Kakkanad in Kochi. So,if that is 'Smart'enough,why can’t it be 'Fashionable'too? And the curiosity seems to have been satiated by the Liberty Group from Italy,in the form of 'Fashion City’. According to the Chairman of Liberty Group,Mr. Aldo Bordijnon,the discussions that were held with the Kerala Government were fruitful and the Liberty Group is almost certain to set up the 'Fashion City'at Kakkanad in Kochi. A final decision on the project would soon be taken,after taking into consideration other project related factors. Around 20 other companies in the fashion industry,which are also from Italy,have expressed their willingness to start their units in the 'Fashion City’. Local apparel manufactures would also be offered workspace,Mr. Bordijnon said. The Liberty Group will be investing around Rs. 15 crores in the initial phase. The total investment expected from the other 20 companies would be more than Rs. 200 crores,he added. Once the proposed 'Fashion City'is accomplished,it is expected to grab a prominent spot among the main apparel production centres in India and is also perceived to generate employment opportunities for about 25,000 people. The three-member team of Liberty Group visited Kerala and surveyed the prospective land areas at Kakkanad and also at Cherthala,which are under the Kinfra Export Promotion Industrial Parks Ltd and the Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation respectively. And it seems,the Liberty Group,in all likelihood would go for the 100-acre land at Kakkanad in Kochi. The group prefers Kakkanad,because it feels Kochi has more cultural and educational development when compared to other centres in Kerala,and also being a port city it would facilitate exports in a hassle-free manner. The Liberty Group team held discussions with the Chief Minister Mr. Oommen Chandy,the State Minister for Industries,Mr. V. K. Ebrahim Kunju,Principal Secretary,Industries,Mr. T. Balakrishnan,Managing Director of KSIDC,Mr. P. H. Kurien,and the Managing Director of Kinfra,Mr. G. C. Gopala Pillai. Besides Mr. Bordijnon,the other team members of the Liberty Group that visited Kerala last week for first hand assessment and discussions were Mr. Luigi Muz,Administrator,and Designer Ms. Georgia Bordijnon. CM lays foundation stone for Biotechnology ParkSunday, May 22, 2005 | APAIn yet another initiative,that has the potential to play a vital role in the development and growth of the State,the Chief Minister,Mr. Oommen Chandy laid the foundation stone to kick-start the work on the much-awaited Biotechnology Park at Kalamassery in Kochi. The park will come up on a 50-acre land under the Kerala Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation. In his address,the Chief Minister gave the assurance that all biotechnology based projects in Kerala would be given the same kind of incentives and help,which have been enjoyed by the IT- based industries in Kerala. The State Government would give utmost consideration in providing basic infrastructure and the required land for biotechnology based industrial projects in Kerala,the Chief Minister said. The foundation stone laying ceremony was presided over by the Minister for Industries,Mr. V. K. Ebrahim Kunju. Others who attended the function include,M. L. A. Mr.K. Mohammed Ali,Principal Secretary for Industries,Mr. T. Balakrishnan,Managing Director of Kinfra,Mr. G. C. Gopala Pillai and the District Collector of Ernakulam,Mr. Mohammed Hanish. The Biotechnology Park is expected to attract investments worth Rs. 600 crores in a span of two years from now. The park has the potential to host 20 large-scale establishments,and already ten biotech-based companies have expressed their desire to make use of the park. In response to the global tender to provide basic infrastructure in the biotech park,the State Government is most likely to entrust the work to the US based TCG Group. The group will undertake the required infrastructure works worth Rs. 100 crores in the park,and will also be responsible for bringing in biotech units to the park. For the purpose,40 acres of land will be used out of the total 50,which will be given to the group for a lease period of 90 years. On the remaining 10 acres of land,Kinfra will directly set up an incubation centre with financial aid from the Central Government. This will incur an expense of Rs. 23.19 crores,of which Rs. 11 crores will be the share of the Central Government. Rest of the amount will come from Kinfra. The incubation centre will have ten units for basic research purposes. Different companies would be carrying out research activities in the incubation centre on medicine,tissue culture,development of medicinal plants etc. The incubation centre would be set up in a year’s time,while the biotechnology park is expected to come up in two year’s time. 639 Keralite nurses recruited for Saudi ArabiaSunday, May 22, 2005 | APAThe Ministry of Health of Saudi Arabia recruited 639 nurses through the Overseas Development and Employment Promotion Consultants (ODEPEC) Ltd.,a professional consulting agency under the aegis of the State Government. The nurses were selected through an interview held in Kochi conducted by an official team from Saudi Arabia. Muneera Hamdan Alousami,Nursing Director- General ofSaudi Arabia,headed the three-member team. This major recruitment in terms of number took place in the first ever interview-based recruitment held in the State. Earlier a delegation led by the Minister for Labour,Mr. Babu Divakaran,Chairman of ODEPEC,Mr. D.P.A. Bawa Haji and Managing Director,Mr. S. Sreenivasan had requested the Medical Recruitment Attach頯f Saudi Arabia,Mr. Mohammed Abdulla Alpry to conduct the interview in the State. The State controlled institution; ODEPEC’s intervention is expected to control the exploitation of private recruitment agencies. Besides,the ODEPEC charges only nominal fees from the candidates. Air India Express starts services from MuscatSunday, May 22, 2005 | APAIn a colourful ceremony held at Seeb International Airport in Muscat,the Indian Ambassador to the Sultanate,Mr. Ashok Kumar Attri flagged off the inaugural Air India Express flight to Kochi via Abu Dhabi. Another flight in the Air India Express schedule,to the Karipur International Airport also began operations on the same day. In his address,the ambassador said that it was a special occasion in the Indo- Oman relations. The first budget airline started service on the fiftieth year of diplomatic relations between the two countries. Kochi was an ideal destination for the service since the Indo- Oman trade relation flourished throught the Kochi Port. The dignitaries who were present on the occasion include Mr. Abdul Rahim bin Salem Al Harmi,the Deputy Director General of Oman Civil Aviation; Mr. Salem Saleh Al Shabibi,Chief of Public Relations Director-General of Civil Aviation; Mr. Rashid Al Kiyumi and Abdul Razak Al Mandari,officials from the Directorate- General of Civil Aviation; Mr. Dalpat Amariwala,Country Manger of Air India and Mr. Dharmesh Khimji,Managing Director of Ajit Khimji Group. Iran to have air link with KochiSunday, May 22, 2005 | APAWith increase in domestic as well as international airline companies operating their flights to Kerala,one more airline,this time from Iran is on the verge of starting its service to Kerala. Mahan Air,a private carrier from Iran is all set to launch its flight service between Tehran and Kochi. The airline has received clearance from the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation,and has started discussions with the authorities of the Cochin International Airport with regards to the upcoming service. Mahan Air is interested in operating daily flights between Tehran and Kochi. Another prospective airline with an interest to launch its services to Kerala,the Malaysian Airlines,which earlier had plans to start its operations in July this year,has decided to commence operations by September. The delay has been cited basically due to non-availability of the required aircrafts in terms of capacity to fly in the Malaysia – Kerala sector. Malaysian airline would start with Kochi in the initial phase of its operation and would later add Thiruvananthapuram also in its operations to Kerala,and has plans to operate three flights from both airports. Western Union announces new ratesSunday, May 22, 2005 | APAWestern Union,the leading currency exchange agency has announced a reduction in its rates for services from the Gulf to India. The revised rates are given below. For sending money upto11,010 UAE Dirhams,the rate is 25 Dirhams. For 900 Kuwait Dinar the rate is 2 Kuwait Dinars. For 1160 Oman Riyal the rate is 2.50 Oman Riyals. For upto 11,250 Saudi Riyals 25 Soudi Riyals would be charged. For 1150 Bahrain Dinars 2.50 Bahrain Dinar and for 11,100 Qatar Riyals the rate is 25 Qatar Riyal. Avan Chandyyude MaakanSunday, May 22, 2005 | AY"Avan Chandyyude Maakan" a new film which is directed by Thulsidas has Prithiviraj playing the lead role and Sreedevika, the heroine in tamil films, "Ramakrishna" and "Andha Naal Nyabhagam", making her debut in malayalam. The story is about Chandy played by Vijayraghavan, a rich landlord. Because of his cruelty his children leave him and go. Later, Prithiviraj as Kuriyachan finds his father at his doorstep asking for help. Chandy after a long talk goes back as a changed man but he never reaches his home. Music by Sanjiv Lal and cinematography by Nambiathiri the film is produced by Makairayam films. "Thaskaraveeran" faces trouble in courtSunday, May 22, 2005 | AYFilm financier Pankaj Mehta files a petition against the producer Vindhayan, for not paying back the balance amount which was to be paid by him before the release of the movie"Thaskaraveeran ". The court ordered the stay of the release of the film. The film has Mammootty and Nayantara in the lead and is directed by Pramod Pappan. "Balram Vs Taradas"Sunday, May 22, 2005 | AYThe team of IV Sashi, T Damodaran and Mammooty reunite after 15 years in a new project "Balram Vs Taradas". IV Sasi has made many movies with Mamooty like "Inspector Balram", "Athiratram". Liberty Basheer is producing the new film. Shooting begins in July. The project was been discussed for a long time now. Reaching Kerala costly than visiting abroadSunday, May 22, 2005 | AYKerala which is one of the high-profile tourist destinations is getting affected by the increasing preference of domestic tourists to fly out to other foreign countries since reaching Kerala is found to be more expensive than visiting Singapore, Malaysia or Bangkok. According to reports, during this season there has been a tremendous fall in the bookings to Kerala as all domestic tourists find it a prestige issue to fly abroad, since it takes the same money to visit Kerala. Flying to Trivandrum from Delhi and return will cost Rs 29,000 whereas you can fly to Kuala Lumpur or Bangkok and return to Delhi for less than Rs 20,000. Considering the climatic advantages of hill stations during summer, the tourists’ prefers for the cool environs of Kashmir, Shimla or Kulu-Manali than the hot conditions in Kerala. 'Space' organizes conferenceSunday, May 22, 2005 | AYThe Society for Promotion of Alternative Computing and Employment (SPACE) will organise a conference on Free Software and related concepts here on May 28 and 29. Conference, being organised with the support of Hipatia, FSF India and Indian Institute of Information Technology and Management-Kerala (IITM-K), would be attended by delegates from Brazil, Venezuela and Italy, besides delegates from IT companies in Brazil and Venezuela. The conference would discuss the experience of participating nations in the use of free software and explore ways to collaborate on creation of new software applications as well as content. Work for new terminal in Tvm on progressSunday, May 22, 2005 | AYAccording to Airport Authority of India (AAI) sources, the plan for the proposed terminal has been finalised and the work has gained momentum with the soil testing beginning on Tuesday. At least 100 acres would be required for the new terminal out of which government has sanctioned only 27 acres, which would be sufficient only for constructing the building for the terminal. New terminal promises facilities like aerobridges, escalator, elevator, walkways,modern equipment to prevent delay in baggage clearance. Lashing waves hit Kerala coastal belt againSunday, May 22, 2005 | AYTidal waves lashed again in ten coastal districts in the State, the intensity was severe in Alappuzha, Thiruvananthapuram and Kasaragod districts. Sixteen relief camps, mostly in Thiruvananthapuram district, worst-hit coastal area were opened by the revenue department to accommodate the affected people. According to the available reports, more than 100 huts were destroyed and as many as 761 houses were partially damaged in the disaster. State Revenue Minister K M Mani had sanctioned Rs 50 lakh to Thiruvananthapuram district. The government had also sanctioned Rs 25,000 each to those who lost their houses. Karunakaran says he is blamed for supporting RaoSunday, May 22, 2005 | AYAt a function organised in connection with the 14th death anniversary of Rajiv Gandhi, National Congress (Indira) leader K.Karunakaran made a statement that he is now being sidelined for supporting P.V.Narasimha Rao as the successor to Rajiv Gandhi. He said that he was entrusted by the Congress with the task of getting an opinion of the party MPs on the choice of the Prime Minister. All except two leaders had favoured Narasimha Rao. Kavya with new projectsSaturday, May 21, 2005 | AYKavya Madhavan is busy working in her new film 'Sheelavathi'. Sunil is playing the lead role. She will be following this one up with 'Ananthabhadram' with Prithviraj in the lead. Kavya has decided that she will be very choosy about the kind of roles she would play so that the character remains in peoples mind for a very long time. Prithvi luckier in Tamil than MalyalamSaturday, May 21, 2005 | AYPrithvi Raj's movie "Krityam" was not able to get a good collection at the box office. His Kana Kandein, debut film in Tamil has done better business in Kerala than his Krityam. His tamil performance in a villianous role in Kana Kandein, was very well appreciated that he has been signed up for three other new movies in Tamil. MohanLal teams up with JoshiSaturday, May 21, 2005 | AYProducer Antony Perumbavoor has signed Mohan Lal in his next movie which will be directed by Joshi. Padmapriya and Bhavana are the heroines in the film and music is by Deepak Dev of Udayananu Tharam fame. This film will be a typical mass action entertainer with story written by Ranjan Pramod and will be released for Onam. Indians proves to be the best in ITSaturday, May 21, 2005 | AYEight Indians have won a major worldwide information technology contest organised by Computer Associates (CA), winning a total prize bag of $1 million.The contestants who were five young computer professionals from New Delhi, two from Kerala and one veteran from New York were asked to create migration tool kits from Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server and MySQL to CA's Ingres r3 open source platform. The winning project, Shift2Ingres won $400,000 by Harsh Azad, Rohit Gaddi, Achal Rastogi, Geetanjali Bahuguna and Ashutosh Upadhyay. EzyMigrate created by Danes John and Varghese Jacob of Kerala was given the second prize of $100,000, while New York-based Bipin Panda's DbConverter won $50,000. Federal Bank contemplating GDR issueSaturday, May 21, 2005 | AYMr Venugopalan, Chairman and CEO of the Federal Bank expressing his concern for the Alluva-based bank to establish its presence in the competitive environment, is contemplating a GDR (Global Depository Issue). The size of the issue is expected to be $60-65 million. Mr Venugopalan said that going by the present restriction in market capitalisation, we can go up to $65 million which we should be able to do this in the next 6 months. Controversial movie wins the 'battle'Saturday, May 21, 2005 | AYAryadan Shaukat, whose film "Padam Onnu Oru Vilapam" wich had won many rave reviews and national awards has his controversial movie "Daivanamathil" on theatres after a brief struggle with the NDF in the court. Court had stayed the release of the movie following a petition filed by K S Noushad stating that story has been taken from his experience in life. However, the court found the allegation baseless and vacated the stay. BJP Meeting In KeralaSaturday, May 21, 2005 | AYThe two-day ''Chintan Baithak'' of the Bharatiya Janata Party for Kerala will be on May 25 and 26 in Ernakulam to work out the party's strategy to face the coming Assembly polls in the state. Over 40 senior Kerala leaders had been invited to attend the meeting to be participated by BJP Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu and General Secretaries Arun Jaitley and Sanjay Joshi. Doctors ask for rightsSaturday, May 21, 2005 | AYThe doctors affiliated to the Kerala Government Medical Officers Association (KGMOA) have threatened to strike work on May 23 in support of their demands. According to the Medical Council of India, service doctors should also write entrance for admission in postgraduate courses,like any other fresh candidate. Opposing to this, doctors said that they work very hard round the clock and it is impossible for them to attend classes and that consideration should be given for the period of service by government doctors. Also their other demands are to define the code of rules for private practice, ending of political intervention in the hospitals. Plastic waste on roadsSaturday, May 21, 2005 | AYEntrepreneurship Development Cell of Rajagiri College of Social Sciences at Kalamassery has been working for over a month on the project of using plastic waste in the laying of roads, and they have finally implemented the process. The shredded plastic waste is put into the aggregate (metal), which is then heated to a temperature of 170 degrees. At 140 degrees, the plastic melts (which takes about 30 seconds) and sticks to the metal. The main advantage is that plastic waste will increase the durability and longevity of the road,also environment is free of plastic waste. DharmavijayamFriday, May 20, 2005 | AYAlthough St.Thomas played a huge role in the spread of Christianity in Kerala, there was never a movie made on him. Now a director from Andhra is taking up the challenge. Dr.Lanka Palli is all set to capture in reel the real life and times of the 'Missionary of India'. Prakash Paul, better known as 'Kadamattathu kathanar' for his stellar performance in a teleserial by the same name will play the role of St. Thomas in the movie. The movie is expected to be remade in tamil, telugu and hindi later. Most of the cast will be from Kerala while the technical support will be by Andhrites. ThaskaraveeranFriday, May 20, 2005 | AYMegastar Mammootty is having a golden period in his long career. All his recent movies has fared well in the box offices. He is all set to continue his upshoot with the new movie 'Thaskaraveeran',which all set for release. It is produced by Vindhyan and Dinan under the banner of Rasika Entertainment. The movie is directed by Pramod Pappan. Its learnt that the release is being delayed due to succesful run of another Mammootty starer, Thommanum Makkallum. Mammooty plays the lead character of Kochu Baby, who is an underworld don. Nayan Thara is the female lead. The other main attraction of the movie is that the old hot couple of Madhu and Sheela comes back together after a long gap. Innocent, Rajan P Dev, Siddique, Salim Kumar, Bheeman Reghu, Sphadikom George, Kunjan, Mohan Jose, Biyon, Kishore Satya, Poornima and Radhika forms the supporting cast. Scripted by Dennis Joseph, Thaskaraveeran features lyrics by MD Rajendran, music by Ouseppachan, cinematography by Jibu Jacob and art-direction by Boban. 26 in a lakh malayalees commit suicideFriday, May 20, 2005 | AYAccording to official statistics, 26 people in one lakh people choose to end their life by their own hands. According to the recently published studies, arround one lakh Indians commits suicide every year. Close to a lakh commits suicide in India. More than 2,000 students commit suicide because of failure in examinations and the most vulnerable age group for suicides are 15 to 29 in females and 30 to 45 in men. Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal followed Kerala in the ratio of sucides, where the number of suicides ranged from 20 to 26 per lakh of population. Kerala coast battered by high tideFriday, May 20, 2005 | AYAt least 500 houses have been partially submerged and several fishing boats damaged in the coastal belt of south Kerala after sea water gushed into fishing hamlets during high tide this morning. About 100 houses and 150 fishing boats were partially damaged in the Poovar region itself. However, there was no report of injury to any person, police said.In Thiruvananthapuram, the coastal belt from Adimalathurai to Pozhiyoor was the worst-hit with sea water entering upto 150 meters in several areas, submerging houses. A hundred families have been shifted to the nearby relief camps.Local people said that though high tides occurred every year during this month, the intensity was very high this time around. Local officials, including Tahsildar and the RDO, were camping at the worst-hit areas as panic gripped the region. The neighbouring Kollam district, where the maximum number of deaths were reported during the December 26 tsunami in the state, was also affected by high tide.Reports said the sea turned rough after 0930 hrs at Karunagapally and other coastal areas. The coastal belt of Thrissur and Alappuzha was also affected. Reports said many coastal areas of Kannyakumari district of Tamil Nadu were also affected by the high tide. But the situation was not alarming, authorities said. Nilgris Supermarket to open its doors in KeralaFriday, May 20, 2005 | AYThe famous supermarket chain founded by the late Muthuswami Mudaliar way back in the early 1900s will open its first outlet in the state in Ravipuram near Kochi. The supermarket will also house a excusite cofee shop named 'Kappi Kadai'. The Nilgris is highly successful i Tamilnadu, Karnataka and Andhra. They currently run 22 outlets all over South India. The company plans to open 50 new branches all over the nation out of which 8 will be in Kerala cities of Trivandrum, Kochi, Kozhikode, Kottayam and Thrissur. ‘Udayanaanu Thaaram’ in HindiThursday, May 19, 2005 | AY‘Udayanaanu Thaaram’ is going to be remade in Hindi. Roshan Andrews is eager to finish the movie by the end of this year. The company is considering stars like Saif Ali Khan and Akshay Kumar to play the lead roles. Problem is its not clear as to who plays Mohanlal’s role. Negotiations are still on. New Ayurveda MedicinesThursday, May 19, 2005 | AYAyurvedic medicines is now easily accessible at Kochi thanks to the launching of a set of herbal medicines and other allied products by Prakruti Biofarms. After doing a six years of research in association with Mumbai University, they have come up with these new drugs which are more preventive than curative. The products available include Safed Musli tablets, Spring health drink and aloe vera juice among others. The Safed Musli range of capsules is the highlight of the product range. The manufacturers claim it can alleviate stress, improve appetite and prevent several disorders. Monsoon to arrive lateThursday, May 19, 2005 | AYThe onset of monsoon over Kerala is delayed by a week, the latest forecast by Indian Meteorological Department said that it would hit the Indian shore only by June 7 as against its normal date on June 1. It was earlier reported that monsoon will hit the Kerlala coast as early as May 26 th. New Eco Tourism ventureThursday, May 19, 2005 | AYAfter the tremendous success of Thenmala eco-tourism venture, Kerala tourism is planning to develop and market more such spots projecting the state`s scenic beauty and unique flora and fauna. The new schemes include an elephant museum and safari at Konni in Pathanamthitta district attracting elephant loving tourist, the animal which our Kerala is famous and known for. Thenmala, in the Shendurney Wildlife Sanctuary in Kollam district attracts more than a lakh tourists every year, bringing in a revenue of Rs 40 lakh per year. The project`s focus includes protection of endangered medicinal tree `chenkurinji` found largely in the sanctuary. MLAs soon on a trip to Gulf and JapanThursday, May 19, 2005 | AYAfter a meeting of the state cabinet, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said Electricity Minister Aryadan Mohammed and Labour Minister Babu Divakaran would lead a delegation of MLAs from both ruling and opposition parties to the Gulf countries. The main purpose of this trip is to study the plight of Keralites in labour camps and those languishing in jails. He said the cabinet had decided to send a delegation to Japan to visit the World Exposition, EXPO 2005 at Nagoya. Finance Minister Vakkom Purushothaman, Revenue Minister K M Mani, MLAs P K Kunhalikutty, Prof K V Thomas and one MLA from the opposition would be part of the delegation. Defamation suit against P.C ThomasThursday, May 19, 2005 | AYIFDP leader and MP, P. C. Thomas had made allegations against revenue minister K.M.Mani, that he had influenced State Election Commissioner to remove Muvattupuzha from the Loksabha constituency list. In reply minister K.M.Mani has alleged that it was P.C. Thomas who worked to remove his own constituency from the new list. He also alleged in Thiruvananthapuram that P.C Thomas has conspired to delimit Pala assembly constituency. With this regard, state election officer N.Mohandas may file defamation suit against P. C. Thomas. Coca-Cola agitation to extend at national level: PatkarWednesday, May 18, 2005 | AYNational Alliance of Peoples Movements (NAPM) Coordinator Medha Patkar after inaugurating an indefinite 'dharna' in front of the State Secretariat by the Anti-Coca-Cola Plachimada Plant Agitation, said that the State Government should file an appeal in the Supreme Court against the Kerala High Court directive to the Perumatty Panchayat that it should reconsider its order cancelling the license of the Coca-Cola plant at Plachimada. New decision by Railway MinisterWednesday, May 18, 2005 | AYThere is a mixed response in the public to the decision taken by railway minister to increase the platform tickets to Rs 5 from Rs 3 from this date. While this is a step to discourage loiterers, vagrants and unnecessary crowds, this can be very crucial to the vendors at the station. Medical College waits for the sanctionWednesday, May 18, 2005 | AYKochi Cooperative Medical College had a three-member team from IMC(Indian Medical College) on a visit to the campus to evaluate the infrastructure and facilities of this medical college. They met the officials of the college and visited various departments, hospital wards, labs, pharmacy and operation theatres. The council had denied recognition for the college twice earlier. But the officials are confident and said that now they are in a better position to get the sanction from the council. IBS going PublicWednesday, May 18, 2005 | AYIBS Software Solutions - one of the fastest growing IT companies based at Technopark in Trivandrum is going public. Beginning with an annual turnover of Rs 4 crore in 1998, IBS has been registering a steady growth rate of nearly 40 percent for the last seven years and has registered an annual turnover of Rs 80.3 crore during the last fiscal. IBS which is the first Kerala-based company to become a multinational company in the IT sector, has now become a benchmark solution-based company operating in the field of travel, transportation and logistics sector. IBS needs to expand its activities in the coming years and that needs huge investment. Hence, the decision to go public. Sonia speaks against KarunakaranWednesday, May 18, 2005 | AYCongress President Sonia Gandhi spoke out against Karunakaran for the first time after his departure from the congress fold and forming National Congress Indira. She commented that he has done much harm to the party when he was inside than what he can do now when he is outside. She also said that at a point state unit could not even hold a rally without his permission. Speaking about the prospects of the party she said efforts are being made to meet the goals set up by the party. Chitra bags Jeevan AwardWednesday, May 18, 2005 | AYJeevan Tv has instituted an award called 'Jeevan-P Jayachandran' Award, in the name of veteran singer Jayachandran. This Award would be presented at the function in Thiruvananthapuram on May 28 to Playback singer K S Chitra. The award carries Rs one lakh in cash besides citation and a plaque. Free Therapy for Aids PatientsTuesday, May 17, 2005 | AYAntiretroviral Therapy (ART) is a treatment that suppresses or stops a retroviruses like for example-AIDS. ART is given to those patients whose CD-4 cell count falls below 200. CD4 (T4) or CD4+ cells are those white blood cells killed or disabled during HIV infection. Among the 10 states which introduced the free supply of medicines to AIDS patients, Kerala is in the top with 1,300 persons registering at the five medical college hospitals in five months,which has the majority as men, mostly those who had been working in other States. Kerala has set apart Rs 1.65 crore this year to implement the programme. Protest against Tripunithara being a heritage townTuesday, May 17, 2005 | AYThe royal family members of Tripunithura voiced their protest against the Government's move to declare Tripunithura as a Heritage Town. They are also against the including their houses in the list of ancient structures, which should be protected by the Archaeological Department by spending the fund allotted by the Central Government. But the members of the royal family said that muncipality's steps to protect the already crumbled structures appears to be ridiculous since they themself are resposible for the demolishing of many ancient monuments. While the royal family members are reluctant to accept the fund, the churches, which are included in the list of ancient structures, are readying to speed up the process of releasing the fund from the Department. Abortion-A Women's RightTuesday, May 17, 2005 | AYAbortion or Medical Termination of Pregnency(MTP), is a women's experience of physical pain,agony,guilt and shame. Yet we can see many females adopting it either when they are not ready to conceive,or due family pressures not to deliver female babies, or due to having an "illegal" child. In India, kerala has the second highest rate of abortions after Goa. Service of MTP is sometimes denied in government hospitals depending on the doctors, some asking for husbands permision which makes it difficult for unmarried girls. The major cause of the unwanted pregnency due to lack of proper awareness of contraceptives is not what is seen in kerala, but what is seen here is womens power to control their own body is lacking. They are not allowed to choose contraceptives which is not harmful to their body. It is seen that women undergoin abortions are badly treated at hospitals by medical professionals. Each women has the right have painless abortions and treatment with dignity whether they are poor or rich. Film Associations join handsTuesday, May 17, 2005 | AYA Press Conference which was held at Kochi organised by Kerala Film Exhibitors Federation, made a decision to form a coordination committee, which will have three representatives each from all the film associations in the industry. Besides KFEF representatives, the committee will have representatives of Malayalam Movie Distributors Association (MAMDA), Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA), Malayalam Cine Technicians Association and Kerala Cine Exhibitors Association, will meet every month and discuss the problems they are facing and bring out a solution for it. Lorry,Bus to strikeTuesday, May 17, 2005 | AYBus and lorry drivers had a meeting where they have decided to protest for installing speed governers in heavy vehicles before september 30, by declaring strike for two days, on June 6 and 7th. Kerala -Literate StateTuesday, May 17, 2005 | AYKerala, located in the southern tip of India, is a state with a per capita income of only $265. Yet its literacy rate of 91 percent puts it closer to the United States than to any other Indian state. Kerala was the first state in India to declare total literacy in one town in 1989, and subsequently, total literacy in a whole region in 1990. India's National Literacy Mission declared total literacy in the whole state of Kerala on April 18, 1991. Even when times are tough, education is the last item the Kerala government will cut. This all could be made possible because of many christian missionaries which came up for the poor, social reformers which tried to drive education, also land reform measures which came up helped the family in planning their life where education plays a moajor role. Placenta previa more in KeralaMonday, May 16, 2005 | AYBleeding is one of the major causes of Pregnancy related deaths. “Abruptio placenta” and “Placenta previa” are main causes of bleeding. While abruption is premature separation of normally situated placenta, placenta previa is placenta at abnormal site . Placenta when it occupies the lower part of the uterus rather that occupying the upper part of the uterus,its called "Placenta Previa". Reduced blood supply in upper part of uterus due to scarring(following abortion. Caesarian ),Molar pregnancy , Multiple pregnancy etc are the causes of placenta previa. Painless, causeless bleeding after 36th week is a symptom.A recent study found that Placenta Previa is seen commonly in Kerala. Life style and cancerMonday, May 16, 2005 | AYCancer is group of diseases with similar characteristics. Cancer can occur in all living cells in the body and different cancer types have different natural history. Epidemiological studies have shown that 70-90% of all cancers are environmental. Tobacco consumptions either as chewing tobacco or smoking tobacco will account for 50% of all cancers in men. Dietary practices, reproductive and sexual practices etc will account for 20-30% of cancers. The rate of cancer occurence in Kerala and in India is much lower compared to Western countries, but the large population will give rise to a large number of cancers. It is estimated that 25,000 new cancer cases occur in Kerala in one year. Among males 50% of cancers in the mouth, throat and lungs are caused by Tobacco and alcohol habits. Among women tobacco related cancers are 15%. By the peopleMonday, May 16, 2005 | AY"BY THE PEOPLE" follows "4 THE PEOPLE" again directed by Jayaraj. Cast is of Sunil, Mangala, Arun, Nischal, Padhmakumar and others. Story is mainly of four new youngsters take up their fight against social evils. Pravin Mani, a well known music composer and assistant of AR Rehman, is going to score the film’s music. This time, the film’s dance sequence is going to be lot more meaningful and better than it was before. The film has six songs, written by Kaithapram. Biju Menon gets busyMonday, May 16, 2005 | AYAfter a long gap, Biju Menon will be seen in a lot of new releases soon. He has also got many offers from Tamil. His debut film in tamil is ‘Akaram’, where he has a villian role. Biju is presently working in the Madhavan starrer ‘Thambi’. He will follow this one up with the film with Vikram. This is going to be the Tamil remake of ‘Thommanum Makkalum’. Biju Menon is also working in Santosh Sivan's ‘Ananthabhadram’ and in Lal Jose’s ‘Chaandupottu’. He plays the role of Mohanlal’s younger brother in ‘Vadakkomnathan’. He will also be seen in Shaji Kailash’s Onam film this year. ACAB done on a malayaleeMonday, May 16, 2005 | AYScience and modern technology can do wonders in our life. There was a time when Cardiac Bypass Surgery used to be a very difficult procedure both for doctors as well as patients, who had to go through general anesthesia. Thanks to the power of science, a technique called Awake Coronary Bypass Surgery (ACAB),was performed for the first time in India on a 73 year old keralite,where the patient remains fully awake during the operation. In the ACAB surgery epidural anesthesia is given, as a result the area below neck becomes numb,but patient can breathe normally, no need of a respirator, only an oxygen mask is needed. This takes the bypass surgery to a level of a day care procedure, which will cut the expenses faced by the patient in the hospital. Senior Atheletic Meet at Kaloor StadiumMonday, May 16, 2005 | AYAround 200 atheletes are participating in the State senior Atheletic meet held at Kaloor International Stadium in Kochi. In women's 100 metre hurdles category, Semi Sebastian from Palakkad won the gold. Rashmi Bose of Kottayam bagged gold in the long jump.The overall championship went to Ernakulam district. AnnorikkalSunday, May 15, 2005 | AYSharadchandran Wayanad makes his debut as director in 'Annorikkal'. He had written scripts for films like 'Vaasanthiyum Lakshmiyum Pinnae Njannum'. The film takes place in a village. Kavya Madhavan is Ponnu who lives with her mother in the tiny village. She is potrayed as a very hardworking girl who tries to repay the debts her father has made when he was alive. Pandi (played by Kalabhavan Mani) will have romantic interest with her, but she falls in love with Benny (played by Sunil). Twist in the story comes about when Benny kills Pandi's brother and ends in jail, and Pandy is all set for revenge. Anandakuttan has demonstrated excellent cinematography skills in the film. Mohanlal in a CBI roleSunday, May 15, 2005 | AYCBI officer in malayalam cinema means Mammootty. Its his master piece charecter all these years.Now Mohanlal is going to try his luck. Mohan Lal has a very interesting project in his hands,wherein he is playing the role of an investigator on the Rajiv Gandhi Assasination. The film's shooting begins in July. Only time will tell whether Mohanlal can make an imapct in the malayalee minds ower powering the masterful Sethurama Iyer made immortal by Mammootty. Kerala setting up ayurvedic centre in BiharSunday, May 15, 2005 | AYGods own country which is well known for their ayurvedic treatments will soon be available in Bihar too. The Bihar State Tourism Development Corporation recently signed an agreement with Healing Veda, a Kerala-based Ayurvedic and naturopathy treatment centre, for setting up two such centres at Rajgir and Bodh Gaya to help set up the Ayurvedic treatment centres at Rajgir and Bodh Gaya where foreign and domestic tourists can get rejuvenating massage and body purification, anti-stress, beauty care, anti-aging, spine and neck care, body and mind relaxation therapies. Four therapists and two doctors from Kerala would be posted at these two centres. Dileep joins with Kamal and FazilSunday, May 15, 2005 | AYDileep's next project is with Kamal and Fazil. Kamal is the director while Fazil is the producer. Already work has started on the project and the film is said to be black comedy. The shooting is likely to start after Dileep completes Chanthupottu by first week of September. Starting trouble for NTPC unitSunday, May 15, 2005 | AYThe work of Rs 6000-crore expansion project of the Kayamkulam NTPC unit which would help enhance the existing 350 MW to 1950 MW and make the plant a super thermal power station with a total capacity of 2300 WM, is likely to be delayed. The reason behind this is that NTPC has selected Gas Authority of India (GAIL) to supply the LNG(Liquified Natural Gas) as the fuel for the plant,but GAIL is not ready to supply the power for the price of Rs.2.5 per unit offered by the NTPC. The only altrenative will be to import LNG from leading firms. Smart City causing problems for ChandySunday, May 15, 2005 | AYLeader of the Opposition in the Kerala Assembly and CPI (M) politbureau member V S Achuthanandan made allegations against Chief Minister Oomen Chandy by saying that agreement on the proposed Smart-City project at Kochi between the State Government and Dubai government is a big lie. He said the Dubai Internet City was not an institution owned by the Dubai Government but a land promoting firm. He has asked Chandy to reveal the names of the officials who represented the Dubai Government in the discussions held with the state government. Dr.Abraham Mar Paulose consecratedSaturday, May 14, 2005 | AYRight Rev. Dr. K. U. Abraham ramban was consecrated as the ' Episcopa ' of Marthoma Church today in a ceremony held in Thiruvalla. Head of the Marthoma Church Most Rev Dr Philipose Mar Chrysostom Mar Thoma Metropolitan led the function and named the new episcopa as "Abraham Mar Paulose Episcopa". In the valedictory function held afterwards, Cheif Minister of Kerala, Mr. Oommen Chandy and other high profile dignitaries were present. It must be noted that, there was an interim-order on last saturday by the Additional District and Sessions Judge of Pathanamthitta, M. Rajendran Nair, disallowing a petition seeking an interim prohibitory injunction restraining the Episcopal consecration of K.U. Abraham Ramban . The suit, along with the petition, filed by a Mar Thoma Sabha Pratinidhi Mandalam member, Jomini Mary Abraham, sought judicial intervention to declare the Episcopal election of the Mar Thoma Church held on January 11 and 12 "irregular, void and invalid". Asia Appu becomes memorySaturday, May 14, 2005 | AYAsiad Appu, the mascot of 1982 Asian Games died today. The elephant became the darling of masses during the Delhi Asiad. He was 8 years old then. Asiad Appu was ailing for sometime now. He passed off today at the ageof 31 at Punnathoor Kotta near Guruvayoor. Annual Awards for small scale unitsSaturday, May 14, 2005 | AYThe Kerala government today announced industrial awards for small-scale units for the year 2002-03 and 2003-04 on the basis of their production, marketing, employment opportunities, profit and investment. Three state level awards comprising a cash component of Rs 15,000 in the general and Rs 10,000 each in Women's and SC/ST categories would be given away by state Industries Minister V K Ebrahim Kumju. MinnalSaturday, May 14, 2005 | AYPrithvi Raj's has a new release coming up by june.Movie is called "Minnal",produced by Dr N.Harikumar. Debutant director Balachandra Kumar will direct the film. Diya who has done Kurumbu and Dreams in Tamil has currently completed ARV Udhayakumar’s Karka Kasadra with Vikranth, a newcomer and cousin of Vijay will be paired opposite Prithvi Raj. He is in a role of casanova who later reforms. The film's music is one of the last works by late Raveendran, which will be the film's strength. Jesudas, M.G.Sreekumar and Biju Narayanan have lent their voices to the melodious romantic tunes. Naveen Madhav, son of the composer debuts his singing career in this film. Jyothirmayi entered Telugu IndustrySaturday, May 14, 2005 | AYJyothirmayi is doing a movie in Telugu,which along with her has many other newcomers. It is a story of 10 different kinds of strangers coming together on a rainy night at a resort on the outskirts of the town and then the story picks up pace. The film is directed by Rajesh Touchriver, a Keralite. LNG terminal will start as per schedule-MinisterSaturday, May 14, 2005 | AYKerala Industries Minister V K Ebrahim Kunju said that "The memorandum of Understanding " of the proposed Liquified Natural Gas terminal, to be set up at Puthuvypeen Island would be signed towards the end of september this year. For the final discussions about the project,Prime Minister's Principal Secretary, T K A Nair, is scheduled to be here on May 23. No more queues in railway stationSaturday, May 14, 2005 | AYSolving the difficulty in standing for long queues in getting a ticket, a new system involving token system was launched by senior member of Divisional Railway Users’ Consultative Committee (DRUUC). Token numbers are allotted on a first-come-first-served basis. To get the token number, one will have to press the button of the token issuing machine. More than 100 seats have been arranged at the facility for the customers to relax while waiting for their turn. If the customer is not available when the number is displayed, he/she will be given three more chances. However, the new system cannot be availed of for bulk reservation and for those using credit cards. Cremation in a new styleSaturday, May 14, 2005 | AYTo solve the problem of Kochiites considering the strains on crematoriums, a mobile crematorium will soon hit the city. An incinerator will be housed inside a van and brought to the required location. The van will have eight LPG cylinders for incineration. The furnace in the van will be of suitable size and dimensions to accommodate the body and can be attached to an automatic trolley. The whole device will be operated by an operator. One of the most important benefits of this service is the reduced levels of pollution. The heat and fumes generated will be processed through a water bath through which harmful chemicals and gases will be absorbed. The smoke will be released through a chimney. Kerala rich in Anti VenomSaturday, May 14, 2005 | AYThere has been an increase in the death rate due to snake bites in the state. Many of the common people are not aware of the various first aid techniques to be used after a snake bite. Ian Sympson at LF Hospital, Angamaly, said that Kerala has the potential to export anti-venom for treatment of the victims of snakebite. The government should come forward to promote the export of anti-venom. He also said that anti-venom extracted from cobras of North India could not beat the venom of cobras of South India. Impressive growth in software exportsSaturday, May 14, 2005 | AYThe export of software from from the state has marked a tremendous growth touching a Rs 310-crore mark this year while it was Rs 218 crore during the last financial year. The major IT companies which registered highest export figures during 2004-05 in the state are US Software, IBS Software Solutions, SunTec Business Solutions, RMPlc, Infosys Technologies, Astron Document Management, NeST and Allianz Cornhill Information Service. All these companies are functioning from the Technopark in Trivandrum. The only companies which exported hardware of reasonable worth are Technopark-based Toroid India and Metatronics. Chandy extends concessions to biotechnology sectorSaturday, May 14, 2005 | AYKerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy laying the foundation stone for a Rs 39.53-crore Biotech Park being set up by the Kerala Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (KINFRA) at Kakkanad, he said Bio-technology was capable of giving a boost to the agricultural sector which was presently undergoing problems, resulting from dwindling prices coupled with growing input cost. Chandy also added that afetr the Global Investment Meet at Kochi, investments are being poured in kerala through investors from Qatar,Dubai who are very eager in starting projects in kerala. KINFRA had earmarked 50 acres of land for the Bio-tech park with a central assistance of Rs 11 crore from the department of Biotechnology for setting up a Biotechnology Incubation Centre, based mainly on herbal plants. HSE results announcedSaturday, May 14, 2005 | AYA high winning percentage of 59.98 was recorded in the higher secondary examinations in the new scheme. Chithira P.R. of Vivekodayam BHSS, Thrissur and Dhanya Johnson of Sacred Heart CGHSS, Thrissur shared the first rank in Science group scoring 580 marks each. In the Humanities group the first rank went in favour of Smirithi K.M. of TRK HSS, Vaniyamkulam, Palakkad. Kishen K Warrier of Sacred Heart HSS, Thevara, Ernakulam clinched the first rank with 583 marks in commerce group. In the Technical group, Athira Jayan (Model Technical HSS, Kaloor bagged the first rank (582 marks)while Soumya P, (464 marksfrom Kalamandalam Art Hss, Cheruthuruthy bagged the first rank in Art group. The complete results of HSE on a district wise basis is available in http://www.my-kerala.com/edu/hse/ Ayurveda Centres to be standardisedSaturday, May 14, 2005 | AYE K Bharat Bhushan, principal secretary, Kerala Tourism said in Hydrebad that, the Department of Tourism and Health will soon standardise the ayurvedic centres in the state. He said currently there are lot of complaints from the tourists about fake ayurvedic centres running in the state. He hoped that within two months the depatrment will be able to standardise all the existing ayurvedic centers in the state. Due to the high demand for ayurveda, state has seen mushrooming of several ayurvedic centres in the last few years. The state has has just introduced classification of the existing ayurveda centres in two categories – Green Leaf and Olive Leaf. The basic facilities required for both the certifications are the same,but Green Leaf certification also requires other criteria like superior quality of architecture and adequate parking space. 2 year imprisonment for IT officialThursday, May 12, 2005 | AYIn a case filed against the Calicut Additional Commissioner of Income Tax, Mr. S Pandian for taking bribe of Rs 10,000 from a businessman four years back, the court had ordered two years imprisonment. Special Judge in Ernakulam passed this order yesterday. The Income Tax department Officer had asked the businessman through his Chartered Accountant for the bribe for exempting a tax of Rs 28.31 lakh in the assessment year 1998-99. The official was caught redhanded while demanding and accepting the bribe money of Rs 10,000.The case was d registered on March 29, 2001 by the CBI. Battle line drawn for By-Polls.Thursday, May 12, 2005 | AYThe battle line for the June 2nd by-polls in the state is drawn. The major fronts have announced their candidates. Communist Marxist Party (CMP) nominee C A Ajeer will be the Congress-led United Democratic Front candidate in Azheekode. The CPM nominee Mr. M. Prakashan will be the LDF candidiate in the constituency. In Koothuparambu name of Mr K Prabhakaran, who contested the elections last time from the same constituency, had been forwarded to the AICC by the UDF. Here CPM candidtate will be P. Jayarajan itself who had won last time, but was disqualified due to election petition. Meanwhile the BJP decided not to field candidates for the coming by-elections in Kerala but said the party would not extend support either to the Congress led UDF or the CPI-M led LDF candidates. The by-election in Koothuparamba was necessitated with the Supreme Court nullifying the election of Mr Jayarajan. Azhikode fell vacant with the death of CPI(M) legislator T K Balan. Country's Best Telephony in TvmThursday, May 12, 2005 | AYFor the third consecutive year, the Thiruvananthapuram Urban Telecom System has been selected for the All-India Award for the Best Maintained Telephone System in the country. The award is based on a survey on an All India basis which gave Trivandrm a staggerring 99.1 percent.The award would be presented at a function at New Delhi on May 17, 2005, World Telecom Day. Boys top entrance resultsThursday, May 12, 2005 | AYThe results of the entrance exams held by the state government was announced. Boys bagged the eight out of the top ten ranks in the engeneering and medical exams.Ninoy Job Kannampally of Changanassery scored 84.79 % and came top in engeneering section while,Merin Eapen of Thrissur came first with 91.62 per cent marks in medical. Speaking after announcing the results at a press conference, State Education Minister said the Government was planning to set up a mechanism to ensure the quality of education in self-financing professional institutions.Details of the system were being worked out. Replying to a question, he said there was no proposal before the Government to sanction new engineering colleges. A total of 22,656 engineering seats and 6,493 medical seats are in Kerala. In the engineering rank list, a total of 36,940 students, including 16,423 girls, find mention while 46,235 including 28,325 girls are in the medical entrance rank list. Monsoon to hit Kerala coast on May 26Thursday, May 12, 2005 | AYAccording to weather men the monsoon will hit the Kerala coast bit early this year. They are predicting that May 26 th will be the first day for monsoon in Kerala. Traditionally Kerla gets its first monsoon rains on the first week of June which is also the School opening week in the state after the two month summer vaccations. early. "It is going to be an early onset this year. Our forecast is onset over Kerala on 26th of May which is about four to five days earlier than the normal date of onset which is June 1," Goswami of the Centre of Mathematical Modelling and Computer Simulation said. 'Nadoodikattu'-4th partWednesday, May 11, 2005 | AYSathyan Anthikadu is planning to take the fourth part of his famous series 'Nadoodikattu', "Pattana Prevesham', & 'Akkare Akkare Akkare' where Lal and Sreenivasan acts as CID's Dasan and Vijayan.These three films were a super hit,owing to the hilarious comedy played by the two talented actors. Udaya Banner is backWednesday, May 11, 2005 | AYKunchako Boban long dreamt of reviving the production company that his father owned. After more than 18 years, Udaya is getting ready to produce another film. Kunchako has annonced that company is not going to get into distributing films or even running a studio. He is going to concentrate only on making films. He himself is going to star in the lead role in the first film. The story and director are ready. Selection is on for the heroine. PandipadaWednesday, May 11, 2005 | AYDileep and Navya are back together in a full length comedy entertainer "Pandipada". The shooting is going on in full swing at Udumalpet in Tamilnadu. It is produced by Dileep and his brother Anoop under their home banner ‘Grand Productions’. Story mainly tells about a real estate broker played by Dileep as Bhuvana chandran,Navya plays Meena a Tamil girl who falls in love with the hero. Music is by Suresh Peters and camera is by Salu George. Dileep and Navya have been paired together earlier in movies like, Ishtam, Mazhathullikilukkam, Kunjikoonan, Kalyana Raman. Kerala being a hot spotWednesday, May 11, 2005 | AYKeralities are being proud of their God own Country, since it is attracting many tourist to their state from all over the world. India Tourism's Dubai-based regional director Prakash Jajoria said that out of 115,000 tourists from the GCC countries who visited India last year,75 percent were Gulf nationals, and the common tourist spot was the evergreen Kerala. Gulf nationals were taking keen interest in the ayurvedic treatment which is very well known in Kerala. Also the beautiful backwaters of Alapuzha adds more beauty to the place. FILCA International film festivalWednesday, May 11, 2005 | AYThe Film Lovers Cultural Association (FILCA) will organise its fifth International Film Festival here from May 13 to 19. FILCA General Secretary M K P Nair said that the film festival would be conducted in association with Kerala Cultural Department, State Chalachitra Academy, National Film Archieve of India and Federation of Film Society of India. The festival would be inaugurated by noted film personality Adoor Gopalakrishnan and the inaugural film would be ''Phir Milenge'' directed by Revathy. NC(I) and KC(J) to share the same platformWednesday, May 11, 2005 | AYKerala congress(Jacob)had tied with the newly-formed National Congress (Indira) led by veteran leader K Karunakaran. After the meeting between KC (Jacob) leader, Mr Karunakaran and his son Muraleedharan on various issues including an alliance between the two parties and also the possibility of a merger, Muraleedharan said other issues like the strategies which need to be taken for the June two byelections to two Assembly constituencies and the coming panchayat elections would be finalised at the NC (I) executive meeting scheduled to be held tomorrow. Sibi with his next 3 projectsTuesday, May 10, 2005 | AYSibi Malayil's 'Alice in Wonderland' was critically acclaimed but had nosedived at the box office, but the director is all set to start his three new films. Jayaram is chosen to play the lead role in two of the films. The second film's screenplay is written by Girish Kumar who had previously written films like 'Amrutham' and 'Alice in Wonderland'. The third film is going to star Mohanlal in the lead. This time, press-reporter Bhasurachandran is writing the screenplay. Kaveri ties the knotTuesday, May 10, 2005 | AYDirector Surya Kiran and actress Kaveri got married on May 1st, 2005 in Trivandrum. Kaveri (Kalyani in Telugu) hails from Tiruvalla, in central Travancore in Kerala. She has acted in many malayalam movies, made her debut as a child artist. Both husband and wife shot to rise in Tollywood. The wedding was conducted in Nair style and a true Kerala Sadya (Meals) followed after the wedding. Roshan refused to contribute in TamilTuesday, May 10, 2005 | AYRoshan Andrews talented director whose first film,"'Udayanaanu Thaaram' which was super hit in the box office has got an offer from South Indian superstar Kamalhasan to remake the film in Tamil, but Roshan this time refused the offer since he is not considering offers from other languages. With his first film becoming a phenomenal hit, Roshan is now under great pressure to deliver an equally good film again. Chandy's dreamTuesday, May 10, 2005 | AYKerala Chief Minister Oommen said one of his biggest dreams was to ensure the state's development. He also added that the state had all the potentials for development and it could be achieved by exploiting natural and human resources. When talking about the cticisms he was charged with, he said some say I am autocratic, some say there is corruption in my government, when it comes to me in writing I will look into the matter, otherwise all this doesnt affect me much. Hepatitis-Threatening diseaseTuesday, May 10, 2005 | AYStressing on the need for new and advanced treatment for Hepatitis, two-day workshop was held on ‘Optimising Management Strategies in Chronic Viral Hepatitis’, jointly organised by the Indian Society of Gastroenterology and the Cochin Gut Club. Hepatitis is defined as an infection of the liver and it is estimated that 35 to 45 million persons are infected with the disease all over India and these people are more susceptible to developing cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Though a large number of drugs are available,which are expensive, the response rate and clearance of the virus is less than 50 per cent. Molecular Diagnosis in TrivandrumTuesday, May 10, 2005 | AYThe Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology(RGCB) in Thiruvananthapuram an expertise in solving paternity disputes through DNA fingerprinting, is planning a molecular diagnostic facility on the premises. Boon of this diagnostic methodology, is that it is possible to determine whether a patient is predisposed to certain diseases, and more importantly, to evaluate the effectiveness of a particular treatment. Molecular Diagnostics holds a monumental value in the battle against various gene-based diseases and disorders, including AIDS and Alzheimer's Diseases. Kochi-Upcoming Fashion CityTuesday, May 10, 2005 | AYA three-member Italian team from fashion trendsetter Liberty Group , visited the proposed 104-acre plot at Kinfra Export Promotion Industrial Parks Ltd at Kakkanad and the Industrial Growth Centre, a 150-acre land owned by KSIDC at Cherthala in Alappuzha district to examine the possibilities of setting up a Fashion City in Kerala.They held discussions with managing director of V-Star, to know more about the fashion industry in the state. The group is planning to bring in 20 entrepreneurs from the fashion business in Italy to the Fashion City out of which ten entrepreneurs will come in the first phase. They are ready to invest $ 3 million in the venture. Govt. to set up "quality council" for educationTuesday, May 10, 2005 | APAThiruvananthapuram: The Kerala Government proposes to set up a ''quality council'' to ensure quality of education in self-financing professional colleges in the State, Education Minister E T Mohammed Bahseer said today. Announcing the Engineering and Medcial Entrance Examinations results here, he told newspersons that the Government had already taken certain steps to ensure the quality of education in such institutions. Mr Basheer said as the Government wanted to provide quality education to students through these institutions, it was seriously considering to set up a ''quality council'' ensuring the quality of education. He said the Government had no plans to allot new engineering colleges in the self-financing sector in the near future. However, he clarified that new colleges would be sanctioned, if found necessary, after conducting a detailed survey. Technopark expansion of Rs 1,000 croreTuesday, May 10, 2005 | APAThiruvananthapuram: The proposed second phase expansion of the Technopark here is expected to attract investment around Rs 1,000 crore and provide employment to 20,000 people, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said today. Addressing a news conference here, he said six lakh sq.ft. of building would be constructed as part of the expansion costing Rs 50 crore. Mr Chandy said 86 acres of land adjoining the present campus at Kazhakuttom had already been acquired as part of the expansion project to be completed in 2007. Out of this, 50 acres had been earmarked for Infosys and the balance for US Software. The land would be handed over to the companies in October next. He said TCS, another IT major, had been allotted 25 acres within the present campus for its software development centre. This is in addition to the 14 acres of land allotted to it for setting up its training centre which will be the largest in the world. Ninoy and Merin secure first rank in Eng/Med. entrance testTuesday, May 10, 2005 | APAThiruvananthapuram: Ninoy Job Kannampally and Merin Eapen have secured the first rank in Engineering and Medical Entrance examination of the Kerala Government respectively. Announcing the results, Education Minister E T Mohammed Basheer said while Ninoy had secured 84.79 per cent marks in engineering entrance, Merin Eapen topped the medical entrance with 91.62 per cent marks He said a total of 36,940 candidates, including 16,423 females, had been included in the Engineering rank list, while a total of 46,235 candidates including 28,335 females, had qualified for the Medical Entrance Rank list. The entrance examinations were conducted at 142 centres in 14 Revenue districts in the State, New Delhi and in Dubai. He said 14,367 candidates in Enginerring and 5,465 candidates in Medical had been excluded from the rank list for want of minimum 10 marks each in paper-I and paper-II. While boys dominated in the engineering securing the first five ranks, the girls managed to win the first and fourth ranks in the Medical entrance, he said. Following are the first five rank holders: (Eningeering) 1. Ninoy Job Kannampally, Kottayam district (84.79 pc) 2. Rakesh M, Kottayam district (83.86 per cent), 3. Sreejith Ramachandran, Thrissur district (83.01c) 4. Arvind K R, Idukki district (81.97 pc) 5. Krishnamohan Radakrishnan, Thiruvananthapuram district (81.35 pc) Medical ------- 1. Merin Eapen, Thrissur district (91.62 per cent) 2. Arjun Balachandran, Alapuzha district (89.88 pc) 3. Vinnyfred Vincent, Thrissur district (88.76 pc) 4. Biyamol Baby, Thiruvananthapuram district (88.75 pc) 5. Aravind K G, Kollam, (87.68 pc). Health scheme for poor peopleMonday, May 9, 2005 | AYThe Kerala State Planning Board (KSPB)introduced a new scheme that would strengthen the health sector in the state. The scheme involved was formulating a new insurance-linked health scheme for people living below poverty line (BPL) in the state. A full-fledged meeting headed by Cheif Minister Oomen Chandy reviewed the progress of the plan implementation for the year 2004-05 and assessed the plan expenditure for the period as 90 per cent of the total outlay of about Rs.4,700 crore. Qatar shows interest in Gods Own CountryMonday, May 9, 2005 | AYAfter the Dubai Port committing a Rs 2,000 crore investment to set up an International Container Transshipment Terminal at Vallarpadam in the outskirts of Kochi and the Dubai Internet City’s Rs 3,000 crore commitment to develop the ‘Smart City’ - an integrated information and communication and Technology (ICT) park, the Qatar Government has evinced keen interest in investing in several ‘big projects’ in Kerala. Process of finalising several projects for the consideration of Gulf Kingdom’s officials is going on. Hearth Throb of Mollywood comes backMonday, May 9, 2005 | AYFamous actress Menaka after staying away from glamour world has decided to make a comeback through serials. Kaliveedu, under the banner of A.R. Productions, directed by Radhakrishnan was the break she was waiting for. She decides not to upset her fans by doing any negative role or a controversial role. She had avoided movies so that she could spent quality time with her family. Suresh Kumar, her husband is a well known producer. Tele-medicine unit to be introducedMonday, May 9, 2005 | AYThe State Human Rights Commission after visiting the Mental Health Centre (MHC)in Trivandrum suggested a tele-medicine unit so that the benefits of modern psychiatric medicine and treatment methods can be shared by doctors across hospitals. There has been a reduction in the number of in patients from 900 to 519 in five years but the number of patients turning up at the out patient clinic daily has gone up from 35 to nearly 105 now. This could indicate that stigma of mental illness has come down and people are more aware that mental illnesses are treatable. Dr S Ramadorai to be ASB ChairmanMonday, May 9, 2005 | AYDr S Ramadorai, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Tata Consultancy Services Limited, will be the Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Asian School of Business (ASB) coming up at Technopark here. Dr S Ramadorai was "IT Man of the year" for 2004 and "Businessman of the year" (2004). Computer Business Review named him the fifth most influential person in IT in 2004 and the Indo American Chamber of Commerce honoured him with an award for promoting Indo-US Business Excellence. Blindness is not a disqualificationMonday, May 9, 2005 | AYA workshop was organised by the Society for Rehabilitation of Visually Challenged persons in Kochi which had an open discussion on the disabilities act. Achievers from the visually challenged community, who hold senior positions in the corporate world from various parts of India, interacted with the 25 visually challenged students and trained them in the field of computers, communicative english and music. Those who were on the panel said that visually challenged can work with more dedication and resolve than those with normal eyesight. Beenamol gets marriedSunday, May 8, 2005 | AYOlympian Beenamol got married today in thrissur, Kerala. The groom is Dr. Vivek, who is a medical officer in the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre in Mumbai. K.M. Beenamol, who had represented India in many International meets had won two gold medals in the last Asian games. Her brother K. M. Binu is also an olimpian and Asian Medal winner. Albhutha Dweep to go HollywoodSunday, May 8, 2005 | AYDirector Vinayan's Albhuthadweep which tells the story of an island were all the men are dwarfs and women are of the normal height gets Hollywood attention. Appollo 13 director had showed his interest to remake the movie in english , said Vinayan. About 300 dwarfs had shown their faces in the malayalam version. According to the director , this high number of dwarfs had caught the attention of hollywood director. If the project goes through, the movie will mostly shot in Kerala and the hero will be most probabaly Unda Pakru , itself who played the lead role in the malayalam version. Kovalam, Munnar, Fort Kochi and Kumarakom to be declared special tourism zonesSunday, May 8, 2005 | APAKovalam, Munnar, Fort Kochi and Kumarakom will be declared to Special tourism zones, said Mr. K. C. Venugopal, Minister for Tourism. The State is focussing on long-term plans and the projects for the next year would be devised after due discussions. The tourism department had held discussions with tour operators in Kozhikode and Kochi. Discussions would also be held at Thiruvananthapuram. The minister said that the state is committed to provide eco- friendly facilities to the travellers. Despite the Tsunami disaster, the tourism sector has registered a tremendous growth, he added. Kerala tourism to assist renovation of PunnathoorkottaSunday, May 8, 2005 | APAThe development works of Punnathoorkotta, the biggest centre in Asia where above 50 domestic elephants are groomed, would get a shot in the arm with Kerala Tourism's decision to allot Rs. 50 million for the project. This was disclosed by Mr. E. K. Bharat Bhushan, Principal Secretary, Kerala Tourism, during his recent visit to the centre. The elephants of Punnathoorkotta are ritual offerings to the famous Guruvayoor Sreekrishna temple. The project is eco-friendly and is designed in such a way that the natural habitat of the elephants will be conserved. Development project worth Rs. 11 million for KovalamSunday, May 8, 2005 | APAThe renowned Kovalam beach and adjoining areas would get a facelift through the new strategically designed project of the Tourism Department. The development of the beach resort would be carried out at a cost of Rs. 6.6 million. Rs. 4.414 million would be spend for setting up a tourist facilitation centre. The beach park in front of the Kerala Tourism Development Corporation's Hotel Samudra would also be developed. A sprawling lawn, pedestrian walkway, road and parking facilities would be set up here. An elevated 5-metre walkway when constructed would offer the visitors a panoramic view of the sea. A solar lighting system would be set up for the lighting of the resort. The sea wall would be strengthened and the sand park would be protected by fencing. A paved square would be set up around the Althara platform and traditional style seating facilities with granite slabs would be arranged. Flowering plants and small shade trees would also be planted. A well-designed parking zone would also be set up. The tourist facilitation centre would be constructed in a 20-cent land, owned by the Vizhinjam Grama Panchayat, en route to the Rajiv Gandhi Convention Centre. The plan of the complex includes an information centre, communication centre, cloakroom, curios and handicrafts shop, reprographic centre, toilets and parking yard. Tourism fetes at major centres: Minister for TourismSunday, May 8, 2005 | APATourism festivals on the lines of the Nishagandhi festival would be organised in major places in the State, said Mr. K. C. Venugopal, Minister for Tourism. He was talking at the concluding ceremony of this year's Nishagandhi festival. The ethnic art forms could boost the state's tourism growth, he said. The minister also gave away the awards for the best stalls in the food and handicrafts pavilion. Udaya Samudra Hotel of Kovalam won the award for the best stall in the food pavilion. The award for the best handicrafts stall was won by Thanal an NGO. Mr. B. Vijayakumar, MLA, presided over the function. Mr. E. K. Bharat Bhushan, Principal Secretary, Kerala Tourism and Mr. Ashok Kumar Singh, Additional Director, Kerala Tourism also attended the function. New waste disposal system at Kovalam soonSunday, May 8, 2005 | APAThe new waste disposal system for Kovalam has got the final sanction from the Government and would be implemented with the co-operation of the local panchayat, said Mr. K. C. Venugopal, Minister for Tourism. He was speaking after inaugurating the beatification project of the Samudra beach. The minister also laid the foundation stone for the tourist facilitation centre in Kovalam. Reiterating the State's commitment towards healthy tourism development, the minister said that no unauthorised construction would be allowed in the resort. Rs. 3.5 million would be spend for the extension of the walkway in the Eve's and Lighthouse beaches. The roads in and around the resort would be developed at a cost of Rs. 2.5 million, the minister said. SBT launches 'tourism special' loansSunday, May 8, 2005 | APAThe State Bank of Travancore (SBT) has devised 'tourism special' loan schemes for hoteliers, tour operators, and organizers of pilgrimage and for eco tourism. The construction and modernisation of Yatri Nivas, hotels, motels and cottages would also come under this. Financial help would also be provided to travel and tourism agents for setting up offices, purchasing computer and other office equipments. Tour organisers can avail the scheme for buying vehicles and houseboats. Loans would be given for setting up restaurants, ice cream parlours, amusement parks, health clubs and massage parlours in tourism zones. In selected tourism destinations financial help will be given for modernising houses, which provide accommodation for paying guests. Individuals, companies, Trusts and Self help co- operatives can apply for the loan. The annual interest rate is 9.50% and the repayment period would be three years to seven years. More information can be had from the branches of the bank or from 0471- 2353915. Air India Express facing some hurdlesSunday, May 8, 2005 | AYThough Air-India has introduced the Air-India Express,the budget airline,there are some doubts about the operations which have left the passengers, travel agents and officials confused.One of the hurdles they are facing is that some of the passengers are not getting the concession fare during the season mainly due to the lack of clarity on the number of seats available in different slabs.Another problem is that ticket rates in a dozen different categories cause confusion among passengers. K Muralidharan is on to his tactics againSunday, May 8, 2005 | AYK Muralidharan, President of National Congress (Indira), while inaugurating the Kozhikode district committee meet of the National Congress (Indira) said that their MLA's would bring into light certain truths about the SSLC paper leakage.He also alleged that there is something fishy about Oomen chandy allotting land to Smart City and offering jobs there. AIMS cardiologist needs to be applaudedSunday, May 8, 2005 | AYAngioplasty which was considered the therauptic treatment for arteriosclerosis(Progressive narrowing of the arteries due to cholestrol deposits leading to heartattacks or reduced bloodsupply to brain or limbs), was restricted to either one or two vascular territories at a time due to the problems of using large volume of contrast which can be harmful to the kidneys.But the cardiologist of of Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences successfully performed angioplasty in a single stage multiple vascular interventions. New district Panchayat president to be appointed soonSunday, May 8, 2005 | AYDistrict panchayat president K.B. Mohammadkutty Master resigned from the post as district panchayat president and also quits as a member of district panchayat committee.He has decided to join the new party, National Congress (Indira) floated by K.Karunakaran. The next president is expected to be in place within three weeks. Former vice-president John P.Mani and K.R. Subhash are the likely contenders for the presidential post. Dineesh Factory employess relievedSunday, May 8, 2005 | AYKerala High Court issued a stay order to the 25 percent deduction from the wages of employees working in the Dineesh Beedi factory.The emoloyees union challenging the boards decision, filed a pettion stating that a dispute was pending before the Industrial Tribunal, Kozhikode, with regard to the 15 per cent wages cut resorted by the management three years back and therefore the present decision was illegal and violative of the provisions of the Industrial Disputes Act. Regina creates scenes againSunday, May 8, 2005 | AYThe prime witness in the sensational ice cream parlour case scandel Regina, claimed in the court that she was a minor when Indian Union Muslim League general secretary and former Kerala Industries Minister P K Kunhalikutty sexually exploited her eight years ago.She wanted the case to proceed and asked them not to quash the case, in response to the petition filed by social activists P J Sebastian in December, 2004 saying that she was a major when the incident allegedly took place in 1997. Ruling that there was no inter-connection between the two statements, the Magistrate, however, fixed further hearing in the case on May 28. Film star Madhu bags Bahadur Memorial AwardSunday, May 8, 2005 | APAVersatile Film star Madhu has been chosen for this year's Bahadur Memorial Trust award for his contributions to the Malayalam film world. Instituted by the Kodungallur-based Trust, the Award comprising a cash component of Rs 50,000, a plaque crafted by Kutty Kodungallur and a scroll of honour would be presented to him on Bahadur's fourth death anniversary on May 21 at a function to be held at Kodungallur here, Trust Secretary Kamal said today. Madhu alias P Madhavan Nair, who commenced his acting career with the 1962 Malayalam film 'Moodupadom', was selected for his overall contributions as a film star, director and producer, Kamal, well known Malayalam film director and Kadungallur native, told mediapersons here. Madhu had also won the Kerala government's J C Daniel award last year for his contribution to the film industry for over half-a-century. Thilakan and Jagathi SreeKumar had won the Bahadur awards in 2002 and 2003 respectively, while the award for 2004 was shared between Paravur Bharathan and Jose Prakash. Oman -Kochi on Air India Express soonSaturday, May 7, 2005 | AYAir-India Express would start its operations from Oman with a flight to Kochi on May 9. The weekly operations between Kerala and Oman would comprise four flights between Muscat and Kozhikode, four between Muscat and Kochi, three between Muscat and Thiruvananthapuram, and one between Salalah and Kozhikode. Flights to Kerala would cost $534.37, without the tax fare. HDPY B.Ed collegeSaturday, May 7, 2005 | AYA BEd College at Mallaupuram affliated to the Mahatma Gandhi University managed by Hindu Dharma Paripalana Yogam (HDPY)has been approved by the NCTE and will begin functioning from the 2005-06 academic year. The college is designed to teach 200 B.Ed students.The school managed by HDPY has bagged PCM Scholarships Topper Award for the last five years consecutively. Chandrika with a new lookSaturday, May 7, 2005 | AYAyurvedic soap "Chandrika" which was owned by Wipro from June 1993 re-launched the product to give the soap a modern appearance and make it appealing to the younger generation. The company's aim is to increase the sales in the current year from 800 tonnes sales in the previous year. Chandrika has a large market share with its ayuvedic looks and scent. Lalitha Kala Akademy awards announcedSaturday, May 7, 2005 | AYThe Kerala Lalitha Kala Akademy today announced its awards for 2005. Akademy Chairman Jesudasan told newspersons that Shijo Jacob (painting), Guru Prasad(Sculpture), Baby Gopal(painting), Mikku Kuriyan Cheriyan(painting), Rajan Ariyallur(sculpture), Sujith K S (painting), Basanth Peringode (Assemblage), Krishna Kumar Muppathadom (photography) and Suresh K Nair(painting) have been selected for this year's awards. Each award carries a cash price of Rs 15,000 and a citation. The book titled '' A Ramachandraente vara Mozhikal'' by journalist D Vijaya Mohan has been selected for the Art Criticism Award which carry a cash prize of Rs 10,000. Sandeep S of the College of Fine Arts, and Sateesh K K, Anoop K G, Vipin N C, Dinakaran M of the R L V College of Fine Arts and Music Thripunithura have been selected for the special awards for art students. T M Jacob quits UDFSaturday, May 7, 2005 | AYKerala congress led by party leader and former minister T M Jacob has severed ties with the UDF.He blamed Oomen Chandy for not giving the respect that he or senior leader K Karunakaran, Kerala Congress-B leader R Balakrishna Pillai deserved,though they were the ones who had taken initaiative in forming the UDF.He also held Oomen Chandy responsible for the SSLC paper leakage and connected him with Rajan Chacko in the above. Election schedule announcedSaturday, May 7, 2005 | AYKPCC Executive Committee at a meeting at Indira Bhavan, attended by Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, former Chief Minister A K Antony, KPCC President Thennala Balakrishna Pillai, Ramesh Chennithala and many others decided that the DCC presidents would be selected on May 23. Scrutiny of membership will be held on May 12 and Mandalam Presidents elected on May 17. The meetings also consisted of talks to activate UDF committees in districts and constituencies and policy matters to be taken by the government concerning peoples problems. KINFRA Biotech park to be a reality soonFriday, May 6, 2005 | AYCheif Minister Mr. Ooommen Chandy will lay the foundation stone for the Biotechnology park in Kalamassery near Kochi. The Biotechnology park is to be built by Kerala Industrial Infrastucture Development Corporation. The expected budget is 39.53 crores.Biotechnology Park is being set up at Kalamassery, near Kochi in 50 acres. There will be a BioTechnology Incubation Centre at a cost of 23 crore. The centre will focus on the commercial applications of biotechnology with practical application and utility of bio-resources of Kerala, especially herbal-based, according to KINFRA Managing Director G C Gopala Pillai. KINFRA would be providing building space and the required equipment and labs to the entrepreneurs on a lease basis, he said. UdayanFriday, May 6, 2005 | AYBhadran is teaming up with Mohanlal again after a small gap.Their last movie was the runaway hit 'Spadikam'.The film is itled 'Udayan'. Grapewine says Mohanlal plays double role in this movie as father and son. His last double role was in 'Rakshasarajavu' in which his father role was widely acclaimed. The senior Mohanlal plays a feudal landlord in the plantation areas. Mohanlal himself and surprise, surprise, Innocent plays his sons. The movie is expected to reach the theatres before Onam this year. Subair is producing Udayan under the banner of Varnachithra. NORKA for registration of Keralite organisationsFriday, May 6, 2005 | APAThe Non-Resident Keralites' Affairs Department (NORKA) would register Keralite organisations functioning abroad, outside Kerala and within India, and inside Kerala, informed the Principal Secretary, NORKA, Mr. Jiji Thomson. The collected information would be used for long-term policy formulation in the welfare and rehabilitation of Keralites outside the state. The registration would also enable the expatriate organisations to participate in the upcoming pravasi meet, to be held in Thiruvananthapuram in the first week of August. Application forms for registration can be had from the NORKA-ROOTS office in Vazhuthacaud or can be submitted online through the website www.nonresidentkeralite.com. The filled in forms and copies of necessary documents should be sent to the NORKA-ROOTS office. The registration is free of charge. State to launch budget airlines to GulfFriday, May 6, 2005 | APAThe state government is planning to launch a budget airline to the Gulf soon, said Mr. Oommen Chandy, Chief Minister. He was addressing the fourth 'Qatar Malayalee Conference' in Dubai. The proposed airlines project would be executed with NRK participation along the lines of the Cochin International Airport (CIAL). The biggest problem faced by the Keralite expatriates is high airfares. The Government is committed to solve this issue, the Chief Minister said. The Air India Express offers only 25 to 30 percent lower rates. The state Government's intention is to offer the NRKs the cheapest rates. The CIAL has now emerged as the second largest player in Asia and Europe in terms of profit to turnover ratio. The successful experience with the CIAL inspires the Government to move forward with the new Airlines proposal, the Chief Minister said. Air India Express gets landing rights in OmanFriday, May 6, 2005 | APAThe civil aviations authority of Oman has given permission for Air India Express (AI- Express) to operate flights to Muscat and Salalah, according to Mr. V. Thulasidas, Chairman & Managing Director of Air India. The Air India Express would operate five flights to Muscat from New Delhi, Mumbai, Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Kozhikode. An additional flight would also be operated in the Kozhikode- Salalah route. The flights would be direct ones to Muscat on certain days and on other days it would be via Abu Dhabi. The dates of commencement of services are yet to be announced. Business-to-Business Meet in KochiFriday, May 6, 2005 | APAThe second Business-to-Business Meet would be held in Kochi from September 6th to 8th, informed Mr. V. K. Ebrahim Kunju, Minister for Industries. He was speaking to media persons in Thiruvananthapuram. Coir, Khadi- rural industries products, handicrafts items, handloom, processed food, apparel manufacturing, spices, Ayurveda, herbal products, pharmaceuticals, wood industries, printing, packaging, rubber products and interior decoration would be given priority this year. The meet is expected to help over 300 local entrepreneurs in finding marketing partners in India and abroad. In last year's meet, 2,859 trade enquiries were received and orders were received in 93 cases. More details of the meet can be had from the website www.keralaindustry.org or the General Manager, Kerala Bureau of Industrial Promotion, Kurup's Lane, Sasthamangalam, Thiruvananthapuram 695010. Telephone: 0471-2311882, Fax 0471-2311883. E-mail: bureau@vsnl.com or bureau@asianetindia.com. Film centre to come up in KINFRA parkFriday, May 6, 2005 | APAThe Kerala Chalachitra Academy would soon establish an international film centre in the KINFRA Film and Video Park at Kazhakootam in Thiruvananthapuram. The centre, which would be the first of its kind in the country, includes a film museum, film archives, film library, Academy cinema centre, film café, 3D theatre and film school. The film school would offer training in all aspects of filmmaking. A 2-acre plot has been identified for the centre. Financial assistance from the state and union governments would be sought for this. The centre would also offer courses in film production and film appreciation, workshops and seminars and screening of noted foreign films. Kerala and Bahrain to join hands in health and IT sectorsFriday, May 6, 2005 | APAThe Bahrain Health Minister, Mr. Abdul Asees Hamsa who recently visited Kerala said that Bahrain would co-operate with the state in health and IT sectors. He was addressing media persons in Thiruvananthapuram. The minister lauded Kerala's achievements in the health and IT sectors. The minister also had discussions with the state Chief Minister, Mr. Oommen Chandy regarding joint initiatives. In the initial stage of co-operation, patients in need of complicated surgeries would be brought to Kerala for treatment. The minister and the Chairman of Kerala Institute of Medical Sciences, Mr. M. I. Sahadulla signed an MoU on this. The minister also said that investors from Bahrain would find Kerala as an ideal destination. Payyamballi ChanduThursday, May 5, 2005 | AYAfter one of the biggest talked after movie in Kerala, 'Vadakkan Veeragatha', M T Vasudevan Nair, Hariharan and Mammootty is joining hands again. This is after a long gap noted writer M.T. is doing the script for a malayalam movie. The screen play of this big budget film is almost complete and the preliminary work is expected to begin soon. The film has been titled Payyamballi Chandhu. Malayalee movie lovers will be expecting a lot from this movie as the three titans join together. ChanthupottuThursday, May 5, 2005 | AYLal Jose is coming up with another Dileep starrer after his megahit with Dillep, Meesa Madhavan. The title is fixed as Chanthupottu. Earlier the film was named Athbudhavilakku. Gopika is the heroine. Lal, Rajan P Dev, Harishree Ashokan, Salim Kumar and others appear in support roles. The music is by Vidyasagar. Noted cameraman Azhagappan is doing the camera. The movie is produced by Lal Creations and the story is by Benny. The shooting will commence soon. Can Lal Jose and Dileep do the magic again? Tata enters mobile market in stateThursday, May 5, 2005 | AYTata Teleservices is the new player in the mobile sector in Kerala. They have proposed an investment of around 575 crore for expanding its services in the telecommunication sector in the Kerala circle. The company will offer both pre- paid and post- paid connections in the state. Tata Indicom is planning to cover about 250 towns by the end of 2005. Initially 100 towns will be covered. Tata Teleservices' mobile services is branded as Tata Indicom and they provide internet facility on the mobile phones at a price of just 40 paise per minute. Tata Indicom had launched its fixed wireless phones in the state this year had already secured over 70,000 customers within a few months. Air Deccan to touch down in KeralaThursday, May 5, 2005 | AYThe low cost air line, Air Deccan will soon start its operations in Kerala. Air Deccan, Managing Director, Capt. G. R. Gopinath told news persons the first flight of Air Deccan to Kerala is expected to land in Kochi by the month of September this year. He said Air Deccan is in the process of buying 32 Air Bus aircrafts and 36 ATRs with a capacity of 72 passengers. After Kochi, Thiruvanthapuram will be the next destination for this low cost air liner. Milloions of non resident keralites will benefit from the arrival of low budget air travel to and from Kerala. Keltron Animation Campus inaugratedThursday, May 5, 2005 | AYKeltron, a Kerala state undertaking had started an "animation training institute" in Chennai by the name Keltron Animation Campus. The facility is built to train youngsters in animation technology. Inaugrating the campus, Mr. Kandaswamy Bharathan, President of Digi Imagination Ltd, Singapore said, "Animation is one of the fastest growing segment in the entertainment industry". He also added the best manpower in this advanced sector is available in South India. The animation technology feild had made rapid strides in the last five years. Lal is planning a sequelThursday, May 5, 2005 | APADirector Actor Lal is planning to make a sequel to the film ‘Thommanum Makkalum' in an year. He is also planning to make the film in Tamil with Vikram and Trisha in the lead. YesThursday, May 5, 2005 | APAAPA, My-Kerala.Com: Shaji Kailas is back with "YES" starring mega star Mammootty. Their last movie was "Valyettan" which was a mega hit. S.N Swami is writing the story for "Yes" and the shooting is set to begin soon. Earlier "Yes" was named as "Brand Brahmanandan". It was quite some time since Shaji directed a movie with Mammootty. Phenomenal hits like "King" and "Commissioner" etc were once ruling the malayalam cinema and it has been a long time Shaji made similar movies. Let's hope that "Yes" will be of same genre. Kerala Cong (B) leaves UDFWednesday, May 4, 2005 | AYKerala Congress (B) have decided to part ways with the ruling United Democratic Front(UDF). Party supremo Mr.Balakrishna Pillai announced the party's decesion in a press conference here today. He said, UDF was formed by leaders like Karunakaran and himself and today UDF is dead. Mr.Pillai told media men that his party leaders will work for LDF in the coming By-elections and it's two sitting MLAs, (Himself and son, Ganesh Kumar) will sit in the opposition benches in the next assembly session. Meanwhile, Kerala Congress(Jacob) leader T. M. Jacob held a one hour meeting with Karunakaran today and opinioned that, he is not averse to work along with Mr. Karunakaran. Implementatiom of HUDCO projectWednesday, May 4, 2005 | AYVypeenites under the banner of the Kudivella Samara Samithi had blocked all major roads demanding for an earlier action regarding the HUDCO project .Meeting between District Collector and the Samara Samithi leaders anounced that Vypeen component of the HUDCO drinking water project will be commissioned before July 12. The meet reviewed all pending work and directions to complete the project as soon as possible. New campaign launchedWednesday, May 4, 2005 | AYA special campaign by Britian in the southern states especially in Kerala is meant for attracting students to pursue their futher education or career in UK's educational institutions. UK and Kerala have an old link where many students from Kerala are travelling to Britian for their higher studies.Also many Indian medical professionals are held high in the UK, particularly nursing professionals from Kerala. Oomen Chandy not threatned by NC(I)Wednesday, May 4, 2005 | AYAysha: Chief Minister Oomen Chandy reacting to the formation of National Congress (Indira) said that new party had been launched not to propagate any idea or implement any programme, but only to establish Muraleedharan's stand in the party. He also said that Muraleedharan could not do more harm to the goverment from the new party more than what he was doing while he was in the party. Sonia to do road show in KeralaWednesday, May 4, 2005 | AYAysha: Congress president and chairperson, Sonia Gandhi would be coming soon to Kerala for a road show , most probably in the month of August. Following the split in Congress and forming a new party by Karunakaran, Sonia's visit is mainly to add more vigour and to strengthen the Congress party in the state. Details about the visit would be anounced soon. By-elections on June 2nd.Wednesday, May 4, 2005 | AYAysha: The election commision had ordered by-elections in the two assembly constituencies of Koothuparambu and Azheekode on the 2nd of June. By-election in Koothuparambu was needed since the Supreme Court had declared the result null of the election held from the constituency last time. The congress candidate who lost had filed a case about the CPM candidate who won, Mr,P.Jayarajan, that he was involved in a criminal case at the time of filing the nomination papers. Azheekode seat fell vacant following the death of TK Balan, the sitting member. The polling is scheduled for June 2 while counting of votes would be taken up on June 5. M 3 rules the state, VellappallyWednesday, May 4, 2005 | AYAysha: SNDP general secretary Vellappalli Natesan lashed out at Oomen Chandy government by saying that government of Kerala is run by a group of three M. According to him 3 M's rules the roost in the state. The 3 M's are Muthoott, Manorama and Methran. He also says NSS and SNDP alone could save Kerala from the present economic and social crisis. VS outsmarts "Smart City" dealWednesday, May 4, 2005 | AYAysha: Opposition leader V S Achuthanandan allegates that there is corruption in the deal sanctioned between the Dubai Internet City (DIC)and the government in setting up Smart City in Kochi. He believes that there is an underhand deal in selling only 100 acres out of 586 acres of land which would be given to the DIC and the rest is free of cost. But an official of the goverment delegation took his allegation baseless and cleared out that in the first phase they would be giving only 300 acres and in that only 100 is given free of cost and added that DIC would have to pay penalty to the government if they failed to provide 33,000 new jobs. Trade Unions to paralyse KeralaTuesday, May 3, 2005 | AYAysha: Trade union leaders PK Gurudasan (CITU) and C Divakaran (AITUC) said that CITU and AITUC have come together with a series of agitations that would paralyse Kerala, due to anti-people policies of the Oommen Chandy government . The proposed strike on June 2nd has been postponed since it falls on the By-election day. Vakkom Purushothaman justifiesTuesday, May 3, 2005 | AYAysha: Vakkom Purushothaman , Finance Minister denied the allegation put forward by Opposition leader VS Achuthanandan that bribe of Rs 200 crore was paid for the government's move to issue an Ordinance, exempting traders from scrutiny of their accounts for the period between 2001-02 and 2004-05. Purushothaman justified in the light of making our system more transparent that by traders to declare their turnover without any sales tax assessment would minimise the scope for corrption. Urvashi's new movieTuesday, May 3, 2005 | AYAysha: Urvashi a very talented actress who came back after a long gap excelled her role as Vimala in "Achuvinte Amma". She has another project up in her sleeve by debutant director Ajin who has signed her for "Kathakali" where she has a very significant role.After seeing her performance in "Achuvinte Amma",her next movie will be worth waiting for. Mathai Ennu VishudhanTuesday, May 3, 2005 | AYAysha: Talented actor Mukesh tries his luck in a new movie "Mathai Ennu Vishudhan"directed by Jose Thomas. The story mainly tells about the problems married couples experience and how compromising and trust plays a very vital role.And when matters go beyond ,divorce becomes the only alternative.Cinematography is by Anil Nair and music by Stephan. The film is produced by Visual dreams. Nithya Das explores in TeluguTuesday, May 3, 2005 | AYAysha: Movie star Nithya Das has stepped her foot in Telugu films with the movie "123 from Amalapuram". It is produced by producer/ director Tamma Reddy Bharadwaja Verma. Nithya das is very happy about her new venture in Tollywood. The story mainly revolves around three guys and how their life turns around after moving to a different place. 95 crore sanctioned by the CentreTuesday, May 3, 2005 | AYAysha: To overcome the power shortage in the state,Centre has sanctioned Rs 95 crore for setting up 25 sub stations and allot an additional 110 MW of electricity . In a week, Centre would send an expert team to Kerala to examine the state's proposal for setting up 25 substations for improvement of voltage. Electricity Minister Aryadan Mohammed also added that we will be getting electricity for a maximum price of Rs 1.60 from the pool. Alappuzha displays another feather on its hatTuesday, May 3, 2005 | AYAysha: Alappuzha Municipality has finally acquired the land needed to start the work in setting up a new fully fledged stadium in the heart of the town.Besides athletics, the stadium will offer playing facilities in football, hockey, volleyball and basketball. The stadium, once completed, would be managed and maintained by a managing committee, already constituted by the District Collector. Vacancy at Nedumbassery AirportTuesday, May 3, 2005 | AYAysha: Nedumbassery International airport is planning to appoint more officials in the emmigration department so as to avoid the inconvenience faced by the more that 600 passengers which daily go and come through this airport.Considering the number of passengers passing through the airport, at least 100 personnel are required. IIT centre in Cochin UniversityTuesday, May 3, 2005 | AYAysha: Talks are going on between the CUSAT team and the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) in connection with setting up of an IIT centre at Cochin University.CUSAT is one of the seven institutes in the race for becoming an IIT, and stands a very high chance since all other institutions are plain engineering colleges. Antony wants to end groupism in congressTuesday, May 3, 2005 | AYAysha: Congress Working Committee member and former Kerala Chief Minister A K Antony said it was high time that infighting was stopped and the party activated. Forgetting differences, Congressmen should concentrate more on people's problems. He also says that the new party that was formed should not repeat the mistake that had happened after 1978 split where they had forged an alliance with with the CPI(M) which later proved disastrous.Antony also said that naming the party after indira could not be justified since she was the one who reunited the Congress after the 1978 split . Chandy asked to leaveTuesday, May 3, 2005 | AYAysha: Chief Minister Oommen Chandy was asked to quit his office by 3 political outfits following the split in the congress led UDF .BJP state unit President P S Sreedhran Pillai ,Congress (S) President Ramachandran Kadannappali ,The Nationalist Youth Congress (NYC)were having the opininon that ''incompetent'' Congress leaders were responsible for the state's backwardness and that it would be against the interests of the state, if the new party joined hands with the LDF, enabling the Marxists to return to power in the state. Mylapra Valiapalli ‘perunnal’Monday, May 2, 2005 | AYAysha: Annual ‘perunnal’ feast of Mylapra St George Orthodox Valiapally, which is led by Kuriakose Mar Cleemis will be celebrated on May 6 and 7.Metropolitan and supreme head of the Marthoma Church Philipose Mar Chrisostem would deliver the keynote address Film producer murderedMonday, May 2, 2005 | AYAysha: Malyalam film producer K K Mohammad Ali who has produced films like 'Bharatavu Udyogam'was found strangled to death at his residence. No more current cutMonday, May 2, 2005 | AYAysha: Steps are being taken to enhance the voltage capacitiy in Gram panchayats , said Electricity Minister Aryadan Mohammed .He added that ways would be met to meet the shortage of power by setting up 35 more sub stations. Raising productivityMonday, May 2, 2005 | AYAysha: Kerala Agriculture Minister K R Gowriamma called for raising productivity of coconut.The only way to do this was large scale replanting and other effective measures. Former Indian ambassador to WTO, S Narayanan exhorted policy makers and scientists to prepare Indian agriculture to become competitive.He also added that in a country like india food security is possible only if indian agricultuer is protected from subsidised cheap imports. Six children drown in Meenachil riverMonday, May 2, 2005 | AYAysha: Six children from a group of 25 who had come down from Bright English School in Pondicherry drowned on sunday in the Meenachil river.The bodies were later brought to the Kottayam Medical College hospital, which will hand over them over to the respective families after post mortem.Of the 6 dead one is a malayalee. Suresh Gopi's comebackMonday, May 2, 2005 | AYAysha: Action hero Suresh Gopi is literally blazing back in an action oriented movie which ofcourse is where he excels.The movie is directed by Shaji kailas who has given the hero many super hits .Another flick which is directed by Renjit panicker will have Suresh Gopi playing the role of a super cop. Jayarams new movie,' Winter'Sunday, May 1, 2005 | AYAysha: Jayaram's new movie is 'Winter'.Direction is by Deepu Karunakaran brother of actress Suchithra.This is his first movie. The shooting of Winter will begin in Hyderabad next month.Manoj K Jayan, Vijayakumar, Sai Kumar, T G Ravi, M R Gopakumar are the other cast.This film is produced by K Radhakrishnan in Jayalakshmi Films banner. Jayaram and Bhavana play the husband and wife in the movie. Bhavana the youngest heroine in Kerala for the first time plays mother of two children. The splitting of congress is suicidal-AntonySunday, May 1, 2005 | APAAlex, A.P., My-Kerala The former CM Antony told the press today that the decision to split the congress by the veteran leader K Karunakaran is very sad and indeed it will be a suicidal step for any congress worker who follow him and leave the congress. Whatever the differences that may exist, none of that justify a decision to leave the congress party and join forces with the Marxist or its allied forces, he mentioned in a brief meeting with the press today. ChandrolsavamSunday, May 1, 2005 | AYAysha: Director Rengith strikes gold again in his new movie Chandrolsavam. Mohanlal, Meena, Sujatha, Samvrutha, veteran music director Dakshina Moorthy, Cochin Haneefa, Oduvil, Renjith Vijayakumar Raghu, Santosh and many others forms the cast.Khushboo plays Durga and the film centers around Srihari played by Mohanlal. Sujatha plays Mohanlal's mother in this film and Meena plays the role of a widow.All in all every one does well and it will capture the audience. Kochi Refineries net up 51.7%Sunday, May 1, 2005 | AYAysha: Kochi Refineries Ltd has posted 51.7 per cent growth in net profit at Rs 842.10 crore for the year ended March 31, 2005 as compared to Rs 555.10 crore for the last fiscal year.The company said its total income (net of excise) has increased to Rs 13210.20 crore for the year-ended March 31, 2005 from Rs 10125.90 crore last year.The company said its total income (net of excise) for the Q4 has increased to Rs 3515.50 crore from Rs 3075.10 crore in the same period last year. .Nedumudi gets Best Actor in Cuba festivalSunday, May 1, 2005 | AYAysha: Malayalam actor Nedumudi Venu has been selected as the ''Best Actor'' for his role in 'Maargam' at the just-concluded International Non-Budget Film Festival at Hawana in Cuba.'Maargam,' a Rajiv Vijayaraghavan directed film which explores a father-daughter relationship also won special jury award.Besides getting seven state awards, the film also got the award for Best Script in the Morocco and Tehran international film festivals National Congress- Indira new partySunday, May 1, 2005 | AYAysha: I group of the Congress in Kerala has formed a new party by the name National Congress-Indira. K.Karunakaran announced the name and flag of the party in the convention in Thrissur. His son K. Muraleedharan will be the party's founder president.This split has come after a long standing rift between K Karunakaran and the other leaders. Karunakaran decides to quit Rajya SabhaSunday, May 1, 2005 | AYAysha: Senior Congress leader K Karunakaran stated that before the launch of his new party, he will give up the Rajya Sabha membership and also quit the party.He also said the new party named National Congress (Indira) would be floated on May 1 at Thrissur
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